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Or, if the Chinese government won't buy it, the hackers-for-hire "turn from cyber mercenaries into cyber dealers," selling access
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China's "hacker-for-hire ecosystem has gotten out of control," according to Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI's cyber division.
Key facts
- Other intrusions targeted American universities and researchers working on COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and testing during the height of the pandemic, prosecutors allege
- The indictment also charges Zhang, a director at Shanghai Firetech Information Science and Technology Company who allegedly operated at the direction of the SSSB, along with two unnamed SSSB officers
- China's "hacker-for-hire ecosystem has gotten out of control," according to Brett Leatherman, assistant director of the FBI's cyber division
- According to American prosecutors, China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) and Shanghai State Security Bureau allegedly directed Xu to hack thousands of computers and steal sensitive information
Summary
This ecosystem includes private technology companies operating at the behest of the PRC's intelligence agencies while allowing Beijing to maintain plausible deniability. "Motivated by profit, this network of private companies and contractors in China cast a wide net to identify vulnerable computers, exploit those computers, and then identify information that it could sell directly or indirectly to the PRC government," Leatherman told reporters on Thursday. Or, if the Chinese government won't buy it, the hackers-for-hire "turn from cyber mercenaries into cyber dealers," selling access to the compromised systems and stolen data to third parties on the dark web. "This leads to a less secure environment that is ripe for further lawlessness," Leatherman said.