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Man Charged With Stealing Code From Federal Reserve Bank

wiredmikey writes "A Chinese computer programmer was arrested by U.S. authorities in New York on Wednesday, on charges that he stole proprietary source code while working on a project at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The man arrested, Bo Zhang of New York, worked as a contract employee developing a specific portion of the GWA's (Government-Wide Accounting and Reporting Program) source code at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York where the code is maintained. The complaint alleges that in the summer of 2011, Zhang stole the GWA code, something he admitted to in July 2011. Zhang said that he used the GWA Code in connection with a private business he ran training individuals in computer programming."

7 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Lesson 1 by redmid17 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The people who run the Fed are largely appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate

  2. Re:Citizenship not required? by ToadProphet · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Bloomberg article states that he's a Chinese citizen in the US on a work visa

    --
    It's on America's tortured brow, That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
  3. Really? by wbr1 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Zhang said that he used the GWA Code in connection with a private business he ran training individuals in computer programming.

    Correctly edited version: Zhang said that he used the GWA Code in connection with a private business he ran training Chinese Hackers in Reserve Bank Code.

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    Silence is a state of mime.
  4. Re:Lesson 1 by hedwards · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Federal Reserve does not print or issue money. Never have and hopefully never will. Those bills are printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the coinage is minted by the United States Mint.

    The Federal Reserve only puts them into circulation when the Board of Governors authorizes it to do so. It is a bit complicated, but the Federal Reserve itself is a private entity that happens to have a board of publicly appointed figures.

  5. Re:Citizenship not required? by RenderSeven · · Score: 3, Informative

    The story says that he's Chinese, not that he's a Chinese citizen.

    The Bloomberg article states that he is in fact a Chinese citizen

    since he "stole" the code for his own private training business

    No, he claims he stole it for his own private business. May or may not be true, but it sure sounds better than admitting espionage.

  6. Racists by digitallife · · Score: 5, Informative

    Holy f#ck people are racist on here.
    The dude was using some code he wrote to train people. Can we assume guilt of something *after guilt has been proven*? Pretty please?

  7. Re:Citizenship not required? by WindBourne · · Score: 4, Informative

    Zhang is a Chinese citizen, said a person with knowledge of the matter who didn’t want to be identified because the information wasn’t public.
    The software system relates to the “tracking of the billions of dollars that are electronically transferred every day in the U.S.’s general ledger,” prosecutors said.
    Zhang has been in the U.S. on a work visa since 2000, said another person familiar with the matter who also didn’t want to be identified because the information isn’t public.

    Kind of destroys your theory there.

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    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.