US Slams China For Corporate Cyber Espionage, Indicts Two Spies (reuters.com)

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

US Slams China For Corporate Cyber Espionage, Indicts Two Spies (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on Thursday December 20, 2018 @07:30AM from the tussle-continues dept.

U.S. authorities on Thursday unveiled indictments against two Chinese nationals linked to China's government who took part in a cyber spying campaign that hacked a range of American government agencies and corporations and violated a 2015 pact, escalating tensions between the two nations. From a report: The U.S. Justice Department charged Zhu Hua and Zhang Jianguo in computer hacking attacks on the U.S. Navy, the space agency NASA and businesses in numerous sectors. The defendants hacked computers to steal intellectual property and confidential business and technological data, according to the indictment. U.S. and British authorities on Thursday also condemned China for violating 2015 agreements to curb cyber espionage for business purposes, slamming Chinese efforts to steal other countries' trade secrets and technologies and to compromise government computers.

54 comments

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Isn't this common? by ranton · 2018-12-20 07:36 · Score: 2

I would have figured this was a very common incident, with the US routinely catching Chinese spies and China routinely catching US spies. It's not like any large countries don't practice espionage. Is this just public relations and politics or is catching spies really that rare?

--
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
1. Re: Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 07:39 · Score: 0
  
  It may be common so we should not hang them
2. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 07:40 · Score: 0
  
  Your definitions of "common" and "rare" are omitted. It happens as often as it happens, sometimes more so and sometimes less. Why would you downplay this incident without knowing anything about it though? Isn't that dumb?
3. Re: Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 07:55 · Score: 0
  
  China is after strategic command's floppy disks.
4. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 07:57 · Score: 0
  
  Except when US spies get caught, like that pastor in Turkey, we act outraged like an innocent person is having their human rights violated...
5. Re:Isn't this common? by AmiMoJo · 2018-12-20 08:39 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  Just anti-China propaganda to drum up support for tariffs and other bullshit.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
6. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 09:16 · Score: 0
  
  "China routinely catching US spies" Seen no evidence of this happening. If China is uncovering or arresting US spies why would they keep it a secret? Why not use the captured spies or evidence of the cyber warfare to blunt the US accusations. China could just make up accusations out of thin air without any proof but they have not did that either. China's response to all the accusations have also been muted. If they had real evidence of the US they would use it.
  This lack of evidence against the US leaves only couple of possible explanations:
  1. US cyber espionage efforts are so advanced and persuasive that China cannot even detect that their systems are compromised. China's efforts are sloppy and like all their cheap experts they rely on quantity not quality. So for every person identified by the US there are probably 100 more attempting the same thing.
  2. China has not found any evidence of the US cyber espionage activities because the US does not even try to compromise China's cyber infrastructure so there is nothing to find.
  3. China does have evidence of US cyber espionage but do not make their discoveries public some reason.
  When it comes to cyber espionage people really underestimate US capabilities so they can show how superior China is. And while Israel is comes in number one when ranking cyber intelligence services the US comes in a close second.
7. Re:Isn't this common? by DNS-and-BIND · 2018-12-20 09:33 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  What are we going to steal from China, anyway? The best methods of poisoning infants with plastic additives? Why would you say it's equal when they have nothing we want? Moreover US spies stick out like a sore thumb in China.
  
  --
  Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
8. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 09:36 · Score: 0
  
  Rothschilds news service says...
9. Re:Isn't this common? by ShanghaiBill · 2018-12-20 09:54 · Score: 0
  
  China does far more corporate espionage on America than America does on China. The is obviously because we are technological leaders and they want to catch up. We spy less because they have less that we want.
  Also, it is a matter of opportunity. There are far fewer Americans in China than there are Chinese in America. Leading tech companies in America are filled with foreign nationals. At many meetings in Silicon Valley, I am the only white guy in the room. In China, it is uncommon for a foreign national to work for a leading tech company.
  China is a "low trust" society, and workers instinctively hoard information. They often have no idea what their colleagues are working on, sometimes even when they are on the same team. My company has an office in Shanghai, and it is a struggle to get the people there to open up and share information with each other. So even if an American spy could infiltrate a Chinese tech company, they might not learn much.
  Much American spying on China is SIGINT rather than HUMINT, which has far lower risk of getting caught.
10. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 10:11 · Score: 0
  
  Leading tech companies in America are filled with foreign nationals. At many meetings in Silicon Valley, I am the only white guy in the room
  This is why I laugh whenever Americans claim superiority over China in creating IP. If all the non-US students and workers went home your workforce would disappear.
11. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 10:32 · Score: 0
  
  You do know that China has several times more tariffs in volume and in percentage terms against the US than the other way around.
  Why would someone that isn't a troll defend an action by China, a human rights violator, and condemn the US for defending itself?
12. Re:Isn't this common? by benjfowler · 2018-12-20 11:49 · Score: 1
  
  Do you defend China stealing $US 1 trillion worth of IP then? Do you believe China has the right to steal other peoples' hard work and investment?
13. Re:Isn't this common? by benjfowler · 2018-12-20 11:51 · Score: 1
  
  It wouldn't surprise me, that with China's notions of "face", and CCP desperately trying to retain legitimacy, that China is actually in much deeper shit than they're making out. It wouldn't be wise to count on it though.
14. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 12:01 · Score: 0
  
  Let the EU know when your cheques for the IP THEFT you committed are in the mail.
  Piracy and Fraud Propelled the U.S. Industrial Revolution
  https://www.bloomberg.com/opin...
  OK for you, not OK for China?
15. Re:Isn't this common? by rtb61 · 2018-12-20 13:08 · Score: 1
  
  Did you know every criminal act by an American outside of the USA, is actually a criminal act of the US government, they are all linked to the US government, provable, they are citizens. Of course no member of the CIA or NSA or FBI etc has ever, committed a criminal act overseas.
  Things are competitive the globe over, sure the government of China will do stuff, less than the US or it's corporations but also individuals in China will commit criminal acts in the rest of the world, regardless of who they are meant to be working at the time.
  Want better outcomes though, you have to work with other governments and not against them. Work against them and well, they wont care, what crimes their citizens commit in your country. USA stop dragging Australia into your bullshit, all you have done is turn Australia's rep into shit and made any comments you force them to make utterly pointless, not independent but foreign policy vassal state. The USA keeps going to that well, long after it has become bone dry, complete waste of fucking time and fuck with Australian trade with China and cripple the Australian economy and no part of the US economy is Australia will be safe, fucking none.
  
  --
  Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
16. Re:Isn't this common? by DNS-and-BIND · 2018-12-20 13:17 · Score: 1
  
  LOL without the US alliance, Australia would be a colony of China. Check that, a colony of Indonesia. Australian navy is weak and it wouldn't take much for Indonesia to offload double the population of Australia in a boatlift. Indonesia wouldn't even notice they'd gone. You're welcome for the free US Navy protection. Ungrateful assholes.
  
  --
  Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
17. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 13:56 · Score: 0
  
  The issue is with corporate espionage. There is a difference - what governments steal isn't going to the general public giving corporations an advantage in the marketplace or the illusion of creativity through the development of new products.
  China's corporate R&D is pretty much stealing as much technology from everyone they can. It is the same in the academic world where Chinese nationals have been caught sending loads of unpublished research from US universities to Chinese ones.
18. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 15:23 · Score: 0
  
  Now they are a colony of America. Little difference I guess.
19. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 15:31 · Score: 0
  
  The US is comprised of a bunch of cowardly and hypocritical crybabies.
20. Re: Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 16:16 · Score: 0
  
  Fucking Eurofag idiot. You want your tech back from 150 years ago? Are you fucking stupid? No one but eurofags and Chinese spies would say something so moronic.
  China is a thief country and now the tariffs are going to finish off their fake economy and if we are lucky lead to revolution and destruction of their totalitarian communist shit-state.
  So which are you? Eurofag crying over ancient shit or Chinese propagandist agent?
21. Re: Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 16:20 · Score: 0
  
  If all the foreigners left I would have an office full of people who bathe regularly and speak English. Productivity would rise above the cost of increased salaries.
22. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 16:56 · Score: 0
  
  See that word in the URL, "opinion" that is a euphemism for "This is bullshit. Informed readers know it's bullshit. But it fools the uneducated and fits the narrative so we are publishing anyway."
23. Re:Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 20:48 · Score: 0
  
  Moreover US spies stick out like a sore thumb in China.
  Well, they're definitely Americans if that's what you mean, but they aren't the ones doing the actual hands-on spying. Typically, these are American case officers working for the CIA under official cover as part of the diplomatic mission. These case officers recruit local Chinese persons to do most of the dirty work. The Chinese know what's happening, but without breaking off diplomatic relations there's not much they can do about it and they tolerate it because we tolerate their case officers working out of their embassy and consulates in the United States. That's how the game is played and all countries play it at some level.
24. Re:Isn't this common? by AmiMoJo · 2018-12-20 21:01 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not a big fan of IP. The US is just as bad as China IMHO, it's just that it goes about it differently. Ridiculously long copyrights that steal from the public domain, DRM and the DMCA that steals from consumers, corrupt and unreasonable patent system...
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
25. Re: Isn't this common? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-21 20:55 · Score: 0
  
  FYI parent account is a Russian troll, not an American.
Why would this increase tensions by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 07:41 · Score: 0

If something wrong was done then one should accept punishment, and that should be the same for both sides. You can't do something wrong and feel entitled to get away with it.
"Indicts" by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 07:50 · Score: 0

China executed dozens of CIA assets and all you can do is lock up a few loose ends?
1. Re:"Indicts" by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 07:52 · Score: 0
  
  Do you mean CIA operatives? Because CIA assets would things like cars, property, etc.
2. Re:"Indicts" by ranton · 2018-12-20 08:39 · Score: 1
  
  Do you mean CIA operatives? Because CIA assets would things like cars, property, etc.
  In intelligence, assets are persons within organizations or countries being spied upon who provide information for an outside spy. They are sometimes referred to as agents, and in law enforcement parlance, as confidential informants, or "CIs" for short (source).
  
  --
  -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
This is becoming more common lately, true. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 07:50 · Score: 0

Common AF lately, spies getting caught by the US intelligence agencies. Even Trump is facing similar indictments, along with every single traitor in his family of frauds and inbred goons.
1. Re:This is becoming more common lately, true. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 08:55 · Score: 1
  
  Nobody asked about your trump fixation you spastic faggot.
2. Re:This is becoming more common lately, true. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 09:11 · Score: 0
  
  I'm glad Trump going to prison a treasonous broken faggot enrages you. It should, traitor bitches. It should sting your faggot pride, traitor.
3. Re:This is becoming more common lately, true. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 09:47 · Score: 1
  
  I'm glad Trump being president enrages you. It does, spastic faggot. You sputter about Donald Trump like a fucking assraped bitch all day, faggot.
4. Re:This is becoming more common lately, true. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 10:07 · Score: 0
  
  I'm glad Trump going to prison a treasonous broken faggot enrages you. It should, traitor bitches. It should sting your faggot pride, traitor. I can't wait to hear Don Jr raped to pieces.
Well thats about 30 years late by Crashmarik · 2018-12-20 07:54 · Score: 3, Interesting

China has been pulling this crap as far back as I can remember
You gotta ask if nothing else why wasn't something done when China hacked the government Office of Personnel Management
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
In a world that refuses to share freely by edris90 · 2018-12-20 08:10 · Score: 0

Refuses to share freely we depend upon acts like this in order to help spread technology and information. if we waited for those companies and governments to share of their own accord .we be holding our breath forever. and when the United States has fallen and the company records have been blown up it sure would be nice if this technology all wasn't lost
Why do we trust China at all? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 08:18 · Score: 0

You look at so much technology that China has stolen or claimed through espionage and you wonder what China has over the US that causes our government to do nothing? Could it be that China holds much of our debt, or that China has over the many decades been buying up assets in the US. Or that over time China has built up a formidable military in the Asian region? Could it be the US is just China's bitch.
Re:Losing my ass on my stock options by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 08:26 · Score: 0

It's not his fault you invested in Twitter and progressive co.
What happens to them? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 08:34 · Score: 0

Do they get executed, hanged, or sent back to China in a box?
Boo hoo by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 08:34 · Score: 0

US gets a taste of its own medicine and cries. How cute.
Re: Whis *BSD is the worst of all? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 08:37 · Score: 0

He said "amigo." Deport him! Byaah!!
Pot calling kettle black? by hackingbear · 2018-12-20 09:18 · Score: 1

So how do the Americans actually figure out the real names of the two hackers without either hacking and spying China? It is not that hackers like to leave their real name around.
Or maybe they should be charged with selling WMDs to Iraq instead. That would foll us to spend a couple trillion dollars last time.
1. Re:Pot calling kettle black? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 20:54 · Score: 0
  
  So how do the Americans actually figure out the real names of the two hackers without either hacking and spying China? It is not that hackers like to leave their real name around.
  It can be safely assumed that no individual on the planet can escape the focused attention of the US intelligence gathering apparatus. If you do something to annoy the US Government then you have to assume that they know who you are, where you are and everything about you because they can get all of this information easily for a very modest investment of resources. Trying to hide from the US Government is hopeless, especially once you really draw their anger. Don't believe that? Just ask Osama Bin Laden.
Not fair! by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 09:40 · Score: 0

The USA is the great Satan and a terrible country. It should be spied on but not allowed to send their own spies out.
give me a break by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 09:45 · Score: 0

America sends home 100+ Chinese spies each year (and that was just 12 years ago). It is kept quiet but we capture them all the time.
"Hackingbear" = Russian spambot troll account by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 09:50 · Score: 0

God, the Russian spambot troll is back. Ivan you need a REAL job, have you considered felating Vladimir Putin? Donald Trump says you get over the salty taste right away, it's actually delicious.
Re:Whis *BSD is the worst of all? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 09:54 · Score: 0

The thing that killed NetBSD was its obsession with boat anchors pulled out of dumpsters. While the other BSDs were busy implementing their vision of a modern operating system, NetBSD was more like a hobby for guys playing with obsolete gear one step away from the landfill. That was precious time and resources wasted all for naught. Time and resources squandered on woolgathering and dumpster diving was time lost forever. And as the few developers drifted away to other projects, what was left resembled someone's garage museum of abandoned computers.
Stalin found his pipe. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-12-20 11:24 · Score: 0

But why only two?
Two Chinese cyber spying stories on the front page by najajomo · 2018-12-20 12:24 · Score: 0

Two Chinese cyber spying stories on the front page, what gives, is slashdot trying to become the Faux News of the internet?

Mandiant APT1 report has critical analytic flaws