 "US exposes ‘hacker-for-hire ecosystem’, charges 12 with hacking American agencies for China")
The US authorities have charged 12 Chinese nationals, including public security officials, for running global cybercrime campaigns targeting American government agencies on behalf of Beijing. According to the US Justice Department, the accused ran a decade-long campaign at the direction of Chinese intelligence and police agencies.
The case shines a light on what American officials have described as a booming hacking-for-hire ecosystem in China, where government agencies and officers hire private companies to target victims of particular interest.
According to media reports, the accused also sold data accessed through hacking to Chinese agencies and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
“Today, we are exposing the Chinese government agents directing and fostering indiscriminate and reckless attacks against computers and networks worldwide,” Sue Bai, head of the US Justice Department’s national security division was quoted as saying by US media, adding, “as well as the enabling companies and individual hackers that they have unleashed.”
The justice department said that the suspects worked for a Chinese company called i-Soon, which would generate revenues in billions, highlighting the extent of its “hacker-for-hire ecosystem”.
The company, as per reports, also undertook independent hacking and then sold data to Chinese agencies at the rate of $10,000-$75,000 for each exploited email inbox.
“The Chinese ministry of public security has been paying hackers for hire to inflict digital harm on Americans who criticise the Chinese Communist party,” Bryan Vorndran, assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, was quoted as saying by Financial Times.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsEarlier, a report by the news agency AP last year revealed that the i-Soon was targeting governments in nations like India, Taiwan and Mongolia but much less in the US.
But the new charges filed in New York and Washington reveal that these hackers were targeting a wide range of Chinese dissidents, religious organisations and media outlets based in the US as well.
Chinese authorities have rejected the allegations as a “smear”, with a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington saying, “We hope that relevant parties will adopt a professional and responsible attitude and base their characterization of cyber incidents on sufficient evidence rather than groundless speculation and accusations.”
Since the i-Soon documents were leaked online last year, the company has struggled but remains operational, according to Chinese corporate records. It has downsized and relocated its offices.
According to Mei Danowski, a cybersecurity analyst, i-Soon companies have been struggling to survive since last year. “To Chinese state agencies, a company like i-SOON is disposable,” the expert added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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