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United States Businesses China Government

US Indicts Chinese Hacker-Spies In Conspiracy To Steal Aerospace Secrets (gizmodo.com) 80

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: The U.S. Justice Department has charged two Chinese intelligence officers, six hackers, and two aerospace company insiders in a sweeping conspiracy to steal confidential aerospace technology from U.S. and French companies. For more than five years, two Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) spies are said to have run a team of hackers focusing on the theft of designs for a turbofan engine used in U.S. and European commercial airliners, according to an unsealed indictment dated October 25. In a statement, the DOJ said a Chinese state-owned aerospace company was simultaneously working to develop a comparable engine.

The MSS officers involved were identified as Zha Rong, a division director in the Jiangsu Province regional department (JSSD), and Chai Meng, a JSSD section chief. At the direction of the MSS officers, the hackers allegedly infiltrated a number of U.S.-based aerospace companies, including California-based Capstone Turbine, among others in Arizona, Massachusetts, and Oregon, the DOJ said. The officers are also said to have recruited at least two Chinese employees of a French aerospace manufacturer -- insiders who allegedly aided the conspiracy by, among other acts, installing Sakula, a remote access trojan, onto company computers.

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US Indicts Chinese Hacker-Spies In Conspiracy To Steal Aerospace Secrets

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  • Which one? (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Is this the chinese spy that worked for pelosi for two decades?

    No? Still going to keep ignoring that one? Oh alright then.

  • anybody surprised? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by WindBourne ( 631190 ) on Wednesday October 31, 2018 @12:47AM (#57566375) Journal
    Of course, China will continue spying on the west. They are in a cold war with the west.

    The real problem here, is that the west has dropped our guard and continues to allow Chinese (and russian) spies in.
    It is time to stop this insanity. We need to move security clearances back to the FBI.
    Oddly, Trump is headed down the right road on this.
    • by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      Re "move security clearances back to the FBI"
      But the companies that make mil/gov products need to have more diversity and have to reflect the demographics of the surrounding city and state.
      Think of what barriers to advancement by the local community new security clearances put up.
      Need to be educated.
      Not on drugs with a lifestyle that always needs funds to get more drugs.
      No lifestyle with compromising information.
      No gambling problems and open to offers of money.
      No criminals.
      Not spies for other nation
      • by dcw3 ( 649211 )

        Funny, the Washington Post reported that ~5 million Americans hold security clearances. Were you unable to cut it?

        • by Gryle ( 933382 )
          That's about 1.5% of the total US population. What point are you trying to make here?
          • by dcw3 ( 649211 )

            The percentage of the population is irrelevant. 5 million people is far from "a very few" that the GP stated.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      The west was too busy spying on itself to worry too much about external threats. After all, if they helped us secure our systems they would just be breaking their own ability to hack them! Better to keep those vulnerabilities for their own use than to get them fixed.

      Improving security to prevent spying is better than trying to arrest and convict the spies. Aside from anything else, there will likely be retaliation against US citizens in China who are accused of spying, and further restrictions on US compani

      • by dcw3 ( 649211 )

        With trade imbalanced so heavily, China needs us much more than we need them. They won't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Careful, they said that about the UK and the EU too, and look how that is working out.

        • With trade imbalanced so heavily, China needs us much more than we need them.

          What? How does that work? China has all the manufacturing, a billion consumers, and a huge cash surplus. What do they need the USA for?

          • by dcw3 ( 649211 )

            Why do they need us? Ask yourself why do they need the $505B we sent to them in 2017. You think they don't care if the US funds were to dry up?

  • Escalation (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    When hacker or spy just doesn't grab the attention of the public anymore, hacker-spy!

  • At these kind of companies, I'm surprised they don't contract to a company that hires Chinese and other nationalities to approach their client's employees and try to turn them into agents. Better that you find out who on your team's corruptible, than the competition finding out first.

    • by Mashiki ( 184564 )

      Companies like Amazon, Walmart, GM, Pioneer Seeds(du pont) and so on use 3rd party companies that hire or transfer a new person where thefts/IP-theft are happening, and the plant picks away until they're part of the ring itself. Then come either litigation and/or firings and/or both. You just don't hear about it much, outside of the "so-and-so worker/manager/upper-manager/production assistant/etc was escorted out of the building" with no reasons given and even the gossip queens have no idea why.

  • Well, apparently it didn't work because their rocket just blew up last week.
  • US companies like Google, Facebook etc are constantly mining data and spying on people. But if the Chinese move a muscle then BOOM! Massive outcry.
    • by Gryle ( 933382 )
      Google and Facebook are out to make money. The Chinese are out to be a superpower. I like my chances better with the US than with China.
  • Gives a new meaning to the old slur, "Chinese copy," doesn't it.
    {^_-}

  • The Chinese don't really need to grab anything, they own many Airbus and Boeing planes with those engines.

    Back in the 1960's they bought a few British passenger planes and made literally Chinese copies of the engines just fine.

  • How it works:

    When you want to come to the west the Chinese Government will remind you that you still have family in China. If your working somewhere where they might want some information they simply will ask you to get it.

    Simple.

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