DOJ Charges 10 Chinese Hackers, 2 Law Enforcement Officers with Stealing Data and Suppressing Free Speech

IMPORTANT: The full content of this page is available to premium users only.

Thursday, March 20, 2025
Author: 
Austin Wahl
Volume: 
41
Issue: 
4
Abstract: 

On March 5, 2025, the Justice Department, FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Departments of State and Treasury announced their collective campaign to target the insidious cyber-crimes of twelve Chinese nationals. These individuals spanned several organizations and worked to suppress criticism of the PRC abroad and loot private data. The hackers were working as either contractors or employees of Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd. (also known as “i-Soon”) and were members of Advanced Persistent Threat 27 (“APT27”).[1] The two public officials involved in the scheme came from the People’s Republic of China’s (“PRC”) Ministry of Public Security (“MPS”) and allegedly directed the hackers to conduct “computer intrusions” and steal data—for which the MPS paid handsomely.[2] The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) alleges that the hacking scheme was composed of a network of private companies, with the hope that the PRC would be shielded from culpability. Victims of the hacking include “U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the PRC, a large religious organization in the United States, the foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, and U.S. federal and state government agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in late 2024,” with some being singled out by the MPS for targeting.[3]