US Justice Department charges Chinese nationals for 'extensive' global hacking campaign

The US Justice Department has announced the indictment of two Chinese nationals who allegedly hacked dozens of companies in multiple countries, including the US.

The Thursday indictment said Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong had targeted numerous managed service providers (MSPs) --  specialist firms which help other companies manage their information technology systems -- potentially giving the hackers an entry into the computer networks of dozens of companies.

One specific MSP provider targeted in New York gave the Chinese nationals access to data from the company's clients involved in banking, telecommunications, medical equipment, manufacturing, health care, biotechnology, oil and gas exploration, and other fields, according to the Justice Department.

The Justice Department noted that the US Navy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as well as companies involved in aviation, space and satellite technology were among those targeted by the two. 

It added that the two hackers, who worked for the so-called APT10 hacker group allegedly backed by China's Ministry of State Security, were employed with the ministry's Tianjin State Security Bureau.

The Justice Department charged China for breaking a 2015 pact to curb cyber espionage for corporate purposes.

"China's goal, simply put, is to replace the US as the world's leading superpower and they're using illegal methods to get there," FBI Director Chris Wray said at a news conference.

Wray noted that the companies targeted by China were a "who's who" of American businesses.

Britain also said it would hold the Chinese government responsible for the global hacking campaign targeting commercial secrets in Europe, Asia and the United States.

In an operation coordinated with US allies in Europe and Asia, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the move was being made to rebuff "China's economic aggression."

Rosenstein slammed Beijing for repeatedly violating a pledge made by Chinese President Xi Jinping to then-president Barack Obama in 2015 to halt cyber attacks on US companies and commercial infrastructure.

"These defendants allegedly compromised MSP clients in at least a dozen countries," Rosenstein said.

"It is unacceptable that we continue to uncover cybercrime committed by China against other nations. We want China to cease its illegal cyber activities and honor its commitment to the international community," he said.

In a previous attempt against industrial espionage earlier this year, US judicial authorities indicted 10 Chinese nationals in October for planning to steal engine technology from US and French aerospace firms by hacking into the firm's systems.

Earlier that month, the Department of Justice obtained the unprecedented extradition of a senior Chinese intelligence official from Belgium to stand trial in the US for running an operation allegedly aimed at stealing secrets from the US aviation industry.

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In early December, Canada arrested an executive of China's leading Huawei telecommunications company at Washington's request.

Since then, China has detained three Canadians, in an apparent bid to pressure Canada into letting the Huawei executive, who is now out on bail, go.

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