Exchange Database
U.S. Charges Five Chinese Military Officers With Spying
The U.S. dramatically escalated its battle to curb China’s technology theft from American companies by accusing five Chinese military officials of stealing trade secrets, casting the hacker attacks as a direct economic threat. The indictment effectively accuses China and its government of a vast effort to mine U.S. technology through cyber-espionage, stealing jobs as well as the innovation on which the success of major global companies like United States Steel Corp. (X) and Alcoa Corp. (AA) depends. While hundreds of U.S. entities have been penetrated by Chinese military hackers since 2002, the Justice Department focused on five companies specializing in solar panels, metals and next-generation nuclear power plants.
Outcomes:
The Obama administration decided last year to publicly confront China with claims that it is behind a campaign to hack into U.S. agencies and corporations to steal trade secrets and potentially disrupt computer networks operating banks, power grids and telecommunications networks. Those indicted were officers in Unit 61398 of the Third Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The Justice Department identified them as Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu and Gu Chunhui.
Government?:
Yes
Type of Exchange:
military
Partners:
United States Steel Corp. (X) and Alcoa Corp. (AA)
US government
Chinese government
Participants (Types):
military officials
Exchange Date:
Monday, May 19, 2014
Continuing:
No
Image:
Level of Government:
national
Location:
Washington, DC
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