A dozen Chinese citizens were charged by the US, accused of participating in a global computer piracy campaign to steal information and help locate dissidents and critics with Beijing worldwide.
The United States Department of Justice announced on Wednesday the imputation of 12 Chinese citizens accused of participating in a global computer piracy campaign aimed at dissidents, news organizations, government agencies and a large religious organization based in the United States.
According to judicial documents, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Security of the State of China used a network of private companies and palates for salary to steal information and help locate dissidents and critics worldwide.
“Today's ads reveal that the Ministry of Public Security of China has been paying computer pirates to pay digital damage to Americans who criticize the Chinese Communist Party (PCCH),” said Deputy Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI cyber division in a statement.
The suspects include two officers from the Ministry of Public Security of China, eight employees of a company known as I-Soon and two members of a group known as Advanced Persistent Threat 27 (APT27).
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the accusations were a “defamation” and said: “We hope that the relevant parties adopt a professional and responsible attitude and base their characterization of cyber incidents in sufficient tests instead of infused speculations and accusations.”
All the defendants are released, and the Department of Justice is offering a reward of up to 10 million dollars for information about the agents of the MPS and I-Soon, the Chinese company that used most computer pirates.
The company is accused of selling stolen information “China's intelligence and security services to suppress freedom of expression and democratic processes worldwide, and aim at groups considered a threat to the Chinese government”, according to a Press statement from the FBI.
I-Soon also carried out computer intrusions on its own initiative, charging “to the MSS and the MPS the equivalent of between approximately $ 10,000 and $ 75,000 for each email mail that would successfully pirate,” said the accusation.
The company also provided training in computer piracy techniques to government agencies.
Among the objectives of the group was a great critical religious organization of the Chinese government that had previously sent missionaries to China, and a group that promoted human rights and religious freedom in China.
The New York Assembly and several news organizations from the United States were the objective, including those that have opposed the Communist Party of China or have delivered newsless news to China.
The foreign objectives included a religious leader, a newspaper by Hong Kong and the Foreign Ministries of Taiwan, India, South Korea and Indonesia, according to the Department of Justice.
Separate accusations were issued against the two men related to APT27, Zhou Shuai and Yin Kecheng, “for their participation in the computer intrusion campaigns for profit that date back to several years, in the case of Yin, to 2013,” says the statement of the Department of Justice.
The State Department announced a reward of up to 2 million dollars for information that leads to the arrest of Zhou and Yin. They are accused of hacking numerous “technology companies, study centers, law firm, defense contractors, local governments, health care systems and universities based in the United States, leaving behind a trail of millions of dollars in damages,” according to the statement.
Yin is accused of hacking the United States Department of the Treasury between September and December 2024. Both face several positions that include conspiracy in computer networks, electronic fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.
“As demonstrated by today and previous ads, China offers a safe port for private sector companies that carry out malicious cyber activities against the United States and its partners,” said state department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce, in a statement.
The accusations were the result of a joint investigation of the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Naval Criminal Investigation Service and the State and Treasury Departments.
(In this report information was used by The Associated Press)