logo
US charges Chinese hackers, government officials in broad cyberespionage campaign

US charges Chinese hackers, government officials in broad cyberespionage campaign

The Hill05-03-2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — Eight leaders or members of a Chinese hacking company have been charged alongside two Chinese law enforcement officers in a global cyberespionage campaign that targeted dissidents, news organizations and U.S. agencies, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
A set of criminal cases adds new detail to what U.S. officials say is a hacking-for-hire ecosystem in China, in which private companies and contractors are paid by the Chinese government to target victims of particular interest to Beijing.
One indictment charges officials with a private hacking company known as I-Soon, whose officials conducted a sweeping array of breaches around the world as part of what U.S. officials say was a broad intelligence-gathering operation.
The targets were in some cases directed by China's Ministry of Public Security — two law enforcement officers were also charged — but in other instances the hackers acted at their own initiative and tried to sell the stolen information to the government afterward, the indictment says. The company charged the government the equivalent of between approximately $10,000 and $75,000 for each email inbox it successfully hacked, officials said.
Among the targets of the hacking was the U.S. Treasury Department, which disclosed a breach by Chinese actors late last year in what it called a 'major cybersecurity incident.'
Phone numbers listed for I-Soon on a Chinese corporate registry rang unanswered, and I-Soon representatives did not immediately respond to an AP email requesting comment.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington suggested that the allegations were a 'smear' and said, '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.'
A separate indictment charges two other Chinese hackers in a for-profit hacking campaign that targeted victims including U.S. technology companies, think tanks, defense contractors and health care systems.
I-Soon is part of a sprawling industry in China, documented in an Associated Press investigation last year, of private hacking contractors are companies that steal data from other countries to sell to the Chinese authorities.
Over the past two decades, Chinese state security's demand for overseas intelligence has soared, giving rise to a vast network of these private hackers-for-hire companies that have infiltrated hundreds of systems outside China.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Oracle (ORCL) Rallies 8% on Q4 Beat, Cloud Outlook Tops 70% Growth for FY26
Oracle (ORCL) Rallies 8% on Q4 Beat, Cloud Outlook Tops 70% Growth for FY26

Yahoo

time22 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Oracle (ORCL) Rallies 8% on Q4 Beat, Cloud Outlook Tops 70% Growth for FY26

Oracle (ORCL, Financials) shares jumped 8% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company topped Wall Street's fiscal Q4 expectations and issued robust guidance for accelerated cloud growth. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 8 Warning Signs with ORCL. For the quarter ended May 31, Oracle posted adjusted earnings of $1.70 per share, beating the $1.64 consensus. Revenue rose 11% year over year to $15.9 billion, above the expected $15.59 billion. Net income increased to $3.43 billion from $3.14 billion a year earlier. Catz guided for 12%14% top-line growth in Q1, with adjusted EPS between $1.46 and $1.50both in line with LSEG forecasts. Catz said Oracle's cloud infrastructure revenue will grow over 70% in fiscal 2026, up from 50% in fiscal 2025. She also forecast more than $67 billion in total revenue for FY26, above the $65.2 billion analyst consensus. Looking further ahead, she said Oracle could exceed its previous $104 billion projection for FY29. Cloud services and license support revenue reached $11.7 billion in Q4, ahead of StreetAccount's $11.59 billion estimate. License revenue from both cloud and on-premises totaled $2.01 billion, also above expectations. Oracle highlighted several strategic wins during the quarter, including a cloud and AI health-care partnership with Cleveland Clinic and UAE-based G42, new deals with IBM, and infrastructure migration by Chinese retailer Temu. Capex surged past $21 billion in FY25 and is projected to exceed $25 billion in FY26. Larry Ellison said customer demand is so high that Oracle received a bulk order for all available cloud capacity. We never got an order like that before, Ellison said. The demand right now seems almost insatiable. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio

Fans Are Worried After Reported Seattle Storm News
Fans Are Worried After Reported Seattle Storm News

Yahoo

time23 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Fans Are Worried After Reported Seattle Storm News

Fans Are Worried After Reported Seattle Storm News originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Currently holding a 4–4 record, the Seattle Storm has experienced both impressive victories and disappointing losses so far during their 2025 season. Their star point guard, Skylar Diggins, leads the team with an average of 16.8 points and 6.4 assists per game, while Nneka Ogwumike contributes around nine rebounds per game. Their recent 83–77 victory over the Dallas Wings snapped a three-game losing streak on Tuesday. Advertisement But off the court, the Storm have faced challenges. It was announced on Wednesday morning by sports journalist Khristina Williams that there is currently an investigation being launched into the Storm's coaching staff by the WNBA and league security. Williams provided no additional information about the case, which caused confusion and suspicions from fans. "why kind of investigation?" a fan asked on X. "that's very broad." An X user wrote, "Will like to read the details on this." "For what?" another wrote. "This post is so vague." Advertisement "Excuse me?????," an X user posted. "AND league security?!?" someone commented. "Dang." "Jewel tried to tell everybody," one fan wrote. Jewell Loyd, who now plays for the Las Vegas Aces but originally played for the Storm for 10 seasons, filed a complaint against Noelle Quinn and the coaching staff back in November 2024. An investigation was conducted, but it concluded without finding any violations. Lloyd requested a trade hours after the conclusion was announced. Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd (24) shoots a foul shot against the Washington Mystics in the second quarter of the game at Michelob Ultra Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images The news of the investigation was released hours after Chinese basketball player Li Yueru requested a trade. Many are wondering if her requesting a trade has anything to do with the investigation. Advertisement "Can we get an update?" a user asked Williams, who has not posted on X for the past hour. "Does this have to do with the recent trade request????" "Li said 'I don't want no part in this. Get me outta hereeee,'" a WNBA fan account joked. Another joked, "WNBA don't overreact to a trade request challenge: impossible." "Where there's constant smoke 💨…." someone speculated. Atlanta Dream center Brittney Griner (42) and Seattle Storm center Li Yueru (28).John Froschauer-Imagn Images Seattle or the WNBA has yet to comment on the ongoing investigation, and additional details have not been released. The Storm is set to play against the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday. Advertisement Related: Indiana Fever Responds to WNBA Investigation Involving Angel Reese This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.

Harvard researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos faces detention hearing
Harvard researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos faces detention hearing

San Francisco Chronicle​

time24 minutes ago

  • San Francisco Chronicle​

Harvard researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos faces detention hearing

BOSTON (AP) — A Russian-born scientist and Harvard University researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos into the United States faces a detention hearing in Massachusetts on Thursday. Kseniia Petrova, 30, has been in federal custody since February and is seeking to be released. Petrova was returning from a vacation in France, where she had stopped at a lab specializing in splicing superfine sections of frog embryos and obtained a package of samples for research. She was later questioned about the samples while passing through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint at Boston Logan International Airport. She told The Associated Press in an interview in April that she did not realize the items needed to be declared and was not trying to sneak anything into the country. After an interrogation, Petrova was told her visa was being canceled. Petrova was briefly detained by immigration officials in Vermont, where she filed a petition seeking her release. She was later sent to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility facility in Louisiana. The Department of Homeland Security had said in a statement on the social media platform X that Petrova was detained after 'lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country.' They allege that messages on her phone 'revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them.' In May, Petrova was charged with smuggling in Massachusetts as a federal judge in Vermont set the hearing date on her petition. That judge later ruled that the immigration officers' actions were unlawful, that Petrova didn't present a danger, and that the embryos were nonliving, nonhazardous and 'posed a threat to no one.' The judge released Petrova from ICE custody, but she remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service on the smuggling charge. Colleagues and academics have testified on Petrova's behalf, saying she is doing valuable research to advance cures for cancer.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store