Security News > 2020 > July > U.S. Indicts Two Chinese Nationals for Hacking Hundreds of Organizations
The United States Department of Justice on Tuesday announced charges against two individuals for the hacking of hundreds of organizations worldwide, including governments and COVID-19 responders.
The two, Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 33, both nationals and residents of China, are accused to have conducted computer intrusion activities on behalf of the Chinese government for more than 10 years.
Victims of the two include governments, non-governmental organizations, companies, human rights activists, clergy, and dissidents in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, and more.
The indictment alleges that the two conspired to steal trade secrets from eight victims, including manufacturing processes, pharmaceutical chemical structures, source code, technology designs, and test mechanisms and results.
The indictment, which provides further details on when and what type of data was stolen from specific organizations, also accuses the two of placing web shells on victim networks, and of frequently using the China Chopper web shell - the tool is popular among Chinese hackers - to maintain access to the compromised environments.