Espionage involving China

AssassinsMace

Lieutenant General
Re: World News Thread & Breaking News!!

FBI Director Eric Holder must be a joke. He says he hopes China will cooperate and turn in those accused of cyber espionage. This is equivalent to when Snowden first came out and Obama tried to spin NSA domestic spying as the same as when stores gather customer information. Yeah, the difference is Kentucky Fried Chicken is not looking to for crimes their customers' are committing in order to arrest them violating the belief in innocent until proven guilty. And why is United Steel Workers a victim of economic espionage? What trade secrets do they possess? It's the very economic secrets Obama says the US does not engage in stealing. You know the spying on Brazil Snowden exposed that angered Rousseff. You probably are going to see China indict US corporate CEOs pretty soon. A lot of bad quality products made in China are because of foreign corporations demanding them to made as cheaply as possible. It'll probably be good to shine a light on that deep dark secret of US corporate practices. You know this is purely political. Obama has to look like he's doing something when everything else he's been trying to do has hit him in the polls. Not only it looks like he doing something on foreign policy but also by naming the United Steel Workers as a victim he's scoring domestic points.
 
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Blackstone

Brigadier
Begin? Where have you been for the last twenty years? It's Industrial espionage.

I'm talking about the recent DoJ move to indict PLA officers and all the mud slinging it will generate. I also expect Benedict Snowden to make an entrance at a strategic moment to further embarrass the US government.
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
The DOJ is pressing because,
1) the individuals are Military Hackers not civilians.
2) the Agencies they were operating on behalf of are State owned.
3) Alcoa, Us steel and Westinghouse are US military suppliers and there products may contain sensitive materials


Justice.Gov said:
Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMonday, May 19, 2014
U.S. Charges Five Chinese Military Hackers for Cyber Espionage Against U.S. Corporations and a Labor Organization for Commercial Advantage
First Time Criminal Charges Are Filed Against Known State Actors for Hacking
A grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania (WDPA) indicted five Chinese military hackers for computer hacking, economic espionage and other offenses directed at six American victims in the U.S. nuclear power, metals and solar products industries.

The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to hack into American entities, to maintain unauthorized access to their computers and to steal information from those entities that would be useful to their competitors in China, including state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In some cases, it alleges, the conspirators stole trade secrets that would have been particularly beneficial to Chinese companies at the time they were stolen. In other cases, it alleges, the conspirators also stole sensitive, internal communications that would provide a competitor, or an adversary in litigation, with insight into the strategy and vulnerabilities of the American entity.

“This is a case alleging economic espionage by members of the Chinese military and represents the first ever charges against a state actor for this type of hacking,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said. “The range of trade secrets and other sensitive business information stolen in this case is significant and demands an aggressive response. Success in the global market place should be based solely on a company’s ability to innovate and compete, not on a sponsor government’s ability to spy and steal business secrets. This Administration will not tolerate actions by any nation that seeks to illegally sabotage American companies and undermine the integrity of fair competition in the operation of the free market.”

“For too long, the Chinese government has blatantly sought to use cyber espionage to obtain economic advantage for its state-owned industries,” said FBI Director James B. Comey. “The indictment announced today is an important step. But there are many more victims, and there is much more to be done. With our unique criminal and national security authorities, we will continue to use all legal tools at our disposal to counter cyber espionage from all sources.”

“State actors engaged in cyber espionage for economic advantage are not immune from the law just because they hack under the shadow of their country’s flag,” said John Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “Cyber theft is real theft and we will hold state sponsored cyber thieves accountable as we would any other transnational criminal organization that steals our goods and breaks our laws.”

“This 21st century burglary has to stop,” said David Hickton, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “This prosecution vindicates hard working men and women in Western Pennsylvania and around the world who play by the rules and deserve a fair shot and a level playing field.”

Summary of the Indictment

Defendants : Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu, and Gu Chunhui, who were officers in Unit 61398 of the Third Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The indictment alleges that Wang, Sun, and Wen, among others known and unknown to the grand jury, hacked or attempted to hack into U.S. entities named in the indictment, while Huang and Gu supported their conspiracy by, among other things, managing infrastructure (e.g., domain accounts) used for hacking.

Victims : Westinghouse Electric Co. (Westinghouse), U.S. subsidiaries of SolarWorld AG (SolarWorld), United States Steel Corp. (U.S. Steel), Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI), the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW) and Alcoa Inc.

Time period : 2006-2014.

Crimes : Thirty-one counts as follows (all defendants are charged in all counts).

Count(s)

Charge

Statute

Maximum Penalty

1

Conspiring to commit computer fraud and abuse

18 U.S.C. § 1030(b).

10 years.

2-9

Accessing (or attempting to access) a protected computer without authorization to obtain information for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain.

18 U.S.C. §§ 1030(a)(2)(C), 1030(c)(2)(B)(i)-(iii), and 2.

5 years (each count).

10-23

Transmitting a program, information, code, or command with the intent to cause damage to protected computers.

18 U.S.C. §§ 1030(a)(5)(A), 1030(c)(4)(B), and 2.

10 years (each count).

24-29

Aggravated identity theft.

18 U.S.C. §§ 1028A(a)(1), (b), (c)(4), and 2

2 years (mandatory consecutive).

30

Economic espionage.

18 U.S.C. §§ 1831(a)(2), (a)(4), and 2.

15 years.

31

Trade secret theft.

18 U.S.C. §§ 1832(a)(2), (a)(4), and 2.

10 years.


Summary of Defendants’ Conduct Alleged in the Indictment

Defendant

Victim

Criminal Conduct

Sun

Westinghouse



In 2010, while Westinghouse was building four AP1000 power plants in China and negotiating other terms of the construction with a Chinese SOE (SOE-1), including technology transfers, Sun stole confidential and proprietary technical and design specifications for pipes, pipe supports, and pipe routing within the AP1000 plant buildings.

Additionally, in 2010 and 2011, while Westinghouse was exploring other business ventures with SOE-1, Sun stole sensitive, non-public, and deliberative e-mails belonging to senior decision-makers responsible for Westinghouse’s business relationship with SOE-1.

Wen

SolarWorld



In 2012, at about the same time the Commerce Department found that Chinese solar product manufacturers had “dumped” products into U.S. markets at prices below fair value, Wen and at least one other, unidentified co-conspirator stole thousands of files including information about SolarWorld’s cash flow, manufacturing metrics, production line information, costs, and privileged attorney-client communications relating to ongoing trade litigation, among other things. Such information would have enabled a Chinese competitor to target SolarWorld’s business operations aggressively from a variety of angles.

Wang and Sun

U.S. Steel



In 2010, U.S. Steel was participating in trade cases with Chinese steel companies, including one particular state-owned enterprise (SOE-2). Shortly before the scheduled release of a preliminary determination in one such litigation, Sun sent spearphishing e-mails to U.S. Steel employees, some of whom were in a division associated with the litigation. Some of these e-mails resulted in the installation of malware on U.S. Steel computers. Three days later, Wang stole hostnames and descriptions of U.S. Steel computers (including those that controlled physical access to company facilities and mobile device access to company networks). Wang thereafter took steps to identify and exploit vulnerable servers on that list.

Wen

ATI



In 2012, ATI was engaged in a joint venture with SOE-2, competed with SOE-2, and was involved in a trade dispute with SOE-2. In April of that year, Wen gained access to ATI’s network and stole network credentials for virtually every ATI employee.

Wen

USW



In 2012, USW was involved in public disputes over Chinese trade practices in at least two industries. At or about the time USW issued public statements regarding those trade disputes and related legislative proposals, Wen stole e-mails from senior USW employees containing sensitive, non-public, and deliberative information about USW strategies, including strategies related to pending trade disputes. USW’s computers continued to beacon to the conspiracy’s infrastructure until at least early 2013.

Sun

Alcoa



About three weeks after Alcoa announced a partnership with a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE-3) in February 2008, Sun sent a spearphishing e-mail to Alcoa. Thereafter, in or about June 2008, unidentified individuals stole thousands of e-mail messages and attachments from Alcoa’s computers, including internal discussions concerning that transaction.

Huang



Huang facilitated hacking activities by registering and managing domain accounts that his co-conspirators used to hack into U.S. entities. Additionally, between 2006 and at least 2009, Unit 61398 assigned Huang to perform programming work for SOE-2, including the creation of a “secret” database designed to hold corporate “intelligence” about the iron and steel industries, including information about American companies.

Gu



Gu managed domain accounts used to facilitate hacking activities against American entities and also tested spearphishing e-mails in furtherance of the conspiracy.


An indictment is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

The FBI conducted the investigation that led to the charges in the indictment. This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division Counterespionage Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

finally my statement is that his is not a Isolated incident and there has been a spy war going back and forth across the Pacific for decades, The personal Tablet is just the new Cloak and dagger. The PRC will try and brush it off as American lies an load up on the Snowden Affair. Like Putin did When Snowden called in on a Russian TV show with a loaded Question to try and pin the new Czar only to be Brushed off in a Propaganda Coup.
The Classic rule of thumb when caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Denies, Denies and then Counter Accusation
 
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justadude

New Member
Registered Member
The Classic rule of thumb when caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Denies, Denies and then Counter Accusation

Yeah, and the Americans are really good at it, just ask Germany, Brazil, Mexico, etc.

German fury as US deny Merkel phone hacking | Mail Online
NSA Hacked Email Account of Mexican President - Spiegel
The NSA Has Hacked Mexican and Brazilian Government Email For Years - gizmodo.com
NSA accused of spying on Brazilian oil company Petrobras - theguardian.com

The point is, why cry about it when everyone does it. You don't see the Chinese govt issuing arrest warrants on the NSA, do you? Btw, aside from the obvious hypocrisy, how will the US govt arrest these PLA officers? Is it going to be like what the IRS do with some of the swiss bankers when they travel overseas? It seems more like a dog and pony show for public consumption.
 
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