US Charges 12 Alleged Spies in China's Freewheeling Hacker-for-Hire Ecosystem
Mar 5, 2025 12:12 PM The Justice Department claims 10 alleged hackers and two eChinese government officials took part in a wave of cyberattacks around the globe that included breaching the US Treasury Department and more.
Only rarely does the West get a glimpse inside the vast hacker-for-hire contractor ecosystem that enables China's digital intrusion campaigns worldwide. Now a new set of criminal charges against a dozen Chinese men, including two government officials, accuses them of a vast espionage campaign that included breaching the US Treasury, and goes as far as revealing the internal communications of some of those alleged hackers, their tools, and their business relationships.
The US Department of Justice on Wednesday announced the indictments of 12 Chinese individuals accused of more than a decade of hacker intrusions around the world, including eight staffers for the contractor i-Soon, two officials at China's Ministry of Public Security who allegedly worked with them, and two other men who were allegedly part of the Chinese hacker group APT27 or Silk Typhoon, which prosecutors say was involved in the breach late last year of the US Treasury.
'Today, we are exposing the Chinese government agents directing and fostering indiscriminate and reckless attacks against computers and networks worldwide, as well as the enabling companies and individual hackers that they have unleashed." Sue Bai, who leads the Justice Department's National Security Division, wrote in a statement. 'The Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue those who threaten our cybersecurity by stealing from our government and our people.'
According to US prosecutors, the group as a whole has targeted US state and federal agencies, foreign ministries of countries across Asia, Chinese dissidents, US-based media outlets that criticize the Chinese government, and most recently the US Treasury, which was breached between September and December of last year.
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Epoch Times
15 minutes ago
- Epoch Times
US Revoking Chinese Student Visas Is a Matter of National Security, Not Brain Drain
Commentary As the Trump administration revokes visas for Chinese students, critics cry xenophobia, but evidence shows that the United States has been training and funding China's future military and tech dominance.
The Hill
24 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump has rejected police reform. States and localities must take the lead.
Five years after a Minneapolis police officer brutally murdered a handcuffed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes, prompting worldwide protests against wrongful police killings of Black people, the Trump administration has taken a giant step back from police reform. The Justice Department announced in May that it is abandoning agreements reached with police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, Ky., mandating reforms designed to reduce killings, brutality and other police misconduct. The Justice Department is conducting a review to determine if it should drop similar agreements with about a dozen other police departments. On top of this, the Justice Department will end civil rights investigations of alleged criminal conduct by the Louisiana State Police and police departments in Memphis, Mount Vernon, N.Y., Oklahoma City, Phoenix and Trenton, N.J. Thankfully, Minneapolis officials announced that they will abide by their agreement, known as a consent decree, reached with the Justice Department in the closing days of the Biden presidency. But it is absurd to depend on police departments to police themselves. The federal government has a duty to protect people from police who engage in criminal conduct. The dangerous pullback by the Justice Department is likely to result in more wrongful deaths at the hands of police — particularly of Black people and members of other minority groups. A nationwide count by the Washington Post of deadly shootings by police from 2015 through 2024 found that Black people 'are killed by police at more than twice the rate' of white people in America. The number of non-Hispanic whites killed by police was 4,657, compared with 2,484 Black people. Because only 14 percent of the American population is Black, the number of people killed by police annually averaged 6.1 per million of the Black population, compared with 2.5 per million of the white population. There are, of course, times when police must use deadly force to prevent the killing of others. But this wasn't the case with Floyd and many others killed by police. Floyd, who was unarmed, was only suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. As a Black man like Floyd, I have experienced the unfair and harsh treatment some officers give to people who look like us. I've been stopped on the road and detained in front of my home by police several times when doing nothing wrong. I've been ordered out of my home and car to lay on the ground, had guns pointed at me, been handcuffed and been threatened with arrest. I don't think I would be treated this way were it not for the color of my skin. Most police officers never beat, shoot or kill anyone. They risk their lives to keep us safe and deserve our gratitude. But it is naive to believe that officers can do no wrong, that we live in a colorblind society or that there is no such thing as systemic racism. In the wake of the Trump administration's rejection of its duty to protect us all from police misconduct, the job of implementing needed reforms must go to state and local governments that oversee police agencies. Here are some actions they should take. Increase police funding to implement reforms: After Floyd's murder, some progressives adopted the slogan 'defund the police.' That was a mistake. Police departments need more federal, state and local government funding to better train and pay officers and to put more officers on the street to do police work the right way. More funding will make it less likely that police engage in the kind of unlawful violence that killed Floyd and too many others. Polling by CBS in 2022 found only 9 percent of Americans believed providing less funding for police would help prevent violent crime, while 49 percent said more funding for police would do so. A Gallup poll the same year found 89 percent of Americans believed minor or major changes were needed to improve policing — including 87 percent of whites, 90 percent of Hispanics and 95 percent of Blacks. Focus on preventing crime, not just crime response: Putting more cops on the street and having them get out of their patrol cars to build relationships with people and businesses helps officers gather intelligence about bad actors. The increased presence of officers in communities will prevent crime. This is an expensive but necessary step if we are serious about police reform. Independently investigate alleged misconduct: Rather than relying on police departments to police themselves and investigate officers accused of misconduct, states and localities should set up independent commissions to objectively conduct such investigations. Reward good cops and punish bad ones: Officers who report misconduct by colleagues should be rewarded financially and with promotions, while officers acting improperly should be disciplined, including with firing and prosecution when they commit crimes. A national database of fired officers should be established so bad cops can't get hired by departments in other localities. Increase police pay and education requirements: Raising police pay will make it easier to attract well-qualified job applicants. Departments should require every new hire to have at least two years of college and eventually a four-year degree. A 2017 national survey found that about 52 percent of officers had two-year college degrees, about 30 percent had four-year degrees and about 5 percent had graduate degrees. Governing Magazine reported in 2023 that 'research suggests that officers with college degrees generate fewer substantiated complaints and … are less likely to shoot or kill members of the public.' Increase screening of police recruits and veteran officers: Use psychological tests and in-depth interviews to identify those unsuitable for police work because they are too eager to use violence — especially if they feel threatened — or too prejudiced against certain groups. Increase officer training: Better training will make officers better able to do their jobs without resorting to deadly force. This should include training in psychology and mental health to assist officers in dealing with people experiencing a mental health crisis. Alternatively, set up a division of mental health police officers to address incidents where drugs or mental issues are the source of bad conduct. 'One in five fatal police shooting victims may have been experiencing a mental health crisis … at the time of their death,' a federal study of 633 deadly police shootings concluded. These recommendations are all common sense and promote justice and public safety. With the Trump administration abandoning its responsibility to investigate police misconduct and demand reforms, the job passes to state and local governments. Doing so would be a fitting tribute to George Floyd and the many others wrongfully killed by police. A. Scott Bolden is an attorney, former New York state prosecutor, NewsNation contributor and former chair of the Washington, D.C. Democratic Party.
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Simone Biles Slams Riley Gaines' 'Truly Sick' Anti-Trans Talk: 'Straight Up Sore Loser!'
Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles tore apart former college swimmer Riley Gaines on social media Friday over her anti-transgender attack directed at a post celebrating high school softball champions. Gaines — who, after her time as an NCAA Division I athlete, morphed into a right-wing activist targeting trans women in women's sports — used her platform to dismiss the victory by the Minnesota team, one that conservativemediaoutlets have fixated on in recent days as the squad reportedly includes a trans girl. 'Comments off lol. To be expected when your star player is a boy,' wrote Gaines of the post on X, formerly Twitter. Biles wasn't having it. ″@Riley_Gaines_ You're truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser,' wrote Biles, referring to Gaines tying for fifth place in a 2022 NCAA Division I national championship race against swimmer Lia Thomas — the first openly trans woman to win such a national title. The gymnast went on to suggest Gaines 'should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports.' 'Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!' she added. Biles took another swipe minutes later. 'bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male @Riley_Gaines_,' she wrote. Gaines took issue with Biles' initial comments, writing that they're 'actually so disappointing.' 'It's not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces,' Gaines wrote. 'You can uplift men stealing championships in women's sports with YOUR platform. Men don't belong in women's sports and I say that with my full chest.' The exchange arrives in the same week that President Donald Trump's administration went after California following a 16-year-old trans athlete's wins at the state's track and field championship. The victories arrived as a new rule change took effect in California allowing more girls to compete and medal in events where a trans athlete also participates. Trump, in a post to his Truth Social platform, declared that 'large scale fines will be imposed' on the state as a result of the athlete's participation. In February, Trump signed an executive order aimed at barring trans women and girls from competing in women's sports. The order looks to strip federal funding from schools that 'deprive' women and girls of 'fair athletic opportunities.' The Justice Department recently threatened to sue California's public schools, as well, if they don't split from the state's policies on trans athletes. Trans athletes notably represent just a small portion of the sports world. In December, NCAA President Charlie Baker testified that he was aware of less than 10 trans college student-athletes among the half a million plus total athletes in the organization. Trump Administration Targets California After Trans Athlete Wins Track Events Judge Rules Federal Prisons Must Continue Providing Hormone Therapy To Transgender Inmates Texan Goes Viral For Calling Out Legislators Over Anti-Trans Bill
