US charges Chinese officers with hacking

The US charged five Chinese army officers with hacking into American companies for competitive advantage, the first cyber-espionage case of its kind. US prosecutors said the officers stole trade secrets and internal documents from five companies and a labour union. Attorney General Eric Holder identified the alleged victims as Westinghouse Electric, US Steel, Alcoa Inc, Allegheny Technologies, SolarWorld and the US Steelworkers Union. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the allegations were “made up” and would “damage Sino-American co-operation and mutual trust”. The US justice department indicted 5 officers in Unit 61398 of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, said to be the top hacking team of China, as conspirators. FBI officials said the hacking in the years 2006 to 2014 caused “significant losses” at the companies. BBC analysts noted it’s no coincidence that four of the six groups named are in the metal industry which had trade laws in place.  The indictments are seen as largely symbolic.

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