The FBI has issued wanted posters for five Chinese army agents it is charging with cyber crimes.
Named by the US Department of Justice as Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu, and Gu Chunhui, the men were officers in Unit 61398 of the Third Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which Mandiant called the APT1 group in its 2013 report.
The indictment alleges that Wang, Sun, and Wen among others known and unknown to the grand jury, hacked or attempted to hack into US entities, while Huang and Gu supported their conspiracy by managing infrastructure (e.g., domain accounts) used for hacking among other things.
The US victims were named as Westinghouse Electric, US subsidiaries of SolarWorld AG, United States Steel Corp, Allegheny Technologies Inc., the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW) and Alcoa Inc.
The indictment claimed that the stolen information would benefit the Chinese Government and state-owned enterprises, or with details about the American entity.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, said: “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. 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.”
FBI Director James B. Comey, said: “For too long, the Chinese government has blatantly sought to use cyber espionage to obtain economic advantage for its state-owned industries. 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.”
According to Reuters, a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it would suspend the activities of a Sino-US working group on cyber issues, which American officials believe refers to a joint effort established in April 2013 involving State Department expert Chris Painter and China Foreign Ministry official Dai Bing.
Another story by Reuters, the Chinese assistant foreign minister Zheng Zeguang summoned the US ambassador Max Baucus shortly after the charges were detailed, saying the indictment had seriously harmed relations between both countries.
According to the Chinese state news agency, Zheng told Baucus that the US attitude to internet security was “overbearing and hypocritical”, and urged the US to give China a clear explanation on reports that Washington has long spied on the Chinese government, businesses, universities and individuals.
Tom Cross, director of security research at Lancope, said this is a step in the right direction by the US Department of Justice regarding cyber espionage.
” A clear international legal framework exists for acts of warfare between nation states, even if those acts occur in cyberspace, but that framework only applies to attacks that damage physical infrastructure or that have the potential to harm people. There are fewer rules that apply to spying activity.
The Internet has proven t
o be a bonanza for spies, who can now directly connect to the computers and communications devices that are being used by their targets, without having to leave the comfort of their home countries. Spying activity in cyberspace has become rampant and impacts organisations of all sizes and in all lines of work, from multinational corporations to individual political activists.”
While Cross doubts that the foreign military commanders prosecuted by the DoJ will be successfully brought to justice, he said it does send a clear message about what is unacceptable behaviour.
“Part of addressing the problem of international spying on the Internet involves setting standards for what is and is not an acceptable target. That message will prompt a dialog about International norms in this area, and having that dialog is a vital part of coming to grips with the impact that Internet security issues are having on our societies.”
