US authorities name five Chinese military hackers wanted for espionage

The five Chinese military hackers are now accused of carrying out eight-year hacking campaign against American companies.

13:49 20 May 2014

The US Department of Justice has released the names of the alleged five members of Chinese People’s Liberation Army who are now being accused of carrying out eight-year hacking campaign against some American companies. The five individuals are Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu, and Gu Chunhui. They are allegedly officers in Unit 61398 of the Third Department of the PLA. The unit was named in February 2013 by security firm Mandiant as one of the PLA’s hacking teams. 

 

In a press conference in Washington DC on Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder, said: "These represent the first ever charges against known state actors for infiltrating U.S. commercial targets by cyber means.” 

 

"The alleged hacking appears to have been conducted for no reason other than to advantage state-owned companies and other interests in China, at the expense of businesses here in the United States. This is a tactic that the US government categorically denounces."

 

Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities have responded saying the presence of “fabricated facts” in the indictment. It added that the US move was “a serious violation of the basic norms of international relations.”