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The US Justice Department on Wednesday announced indictments against twelve Chinese nationals, including two public security ministry officers, for a series of hacking attacks. Targets included the US Treasury (breached in 2024), Chinese dissidents in the US, Asian foreign ministries, religious groups, and US government agencies.
Eight employees of a Chinese company called Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd, also known as i-Soon, and two Ministry of Public Security officers were indicted in New York for involvement in the alleged hacking of email accounts, cell phones, servers, and websites between 2016 and 2023.
"For years, these 10 defendants -— two of whom we allege are (People's Republic of China - PRC) officials -- used sophisticated hacking techniques to target religious organizations, journalists, and government agencies, all to gather sensitive information for the use of the PRC," acting US attorney Matthew Podolsky said in a statement.
The Justice Department said the private Chinese hackers were paid in some cases by the Chinese ministries of public security and state security to exploit specific victims.
"In many other cases, the hackers targeted victims speculatively," it said, identifying vulnerable computers and then selling hacked information to the Chinese government.
All 20 defendants remain at large and the State Department offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to their arrest.
The hacking targets allegedly included a religious organization that sent missionaries to China, an organization focused on promoting human rights and religious freedom in China, a Hong Kong newspaper and the foreign ministries of Taiwan, India, South Korea and Indonesia.
A separate indictment was also unsealed in Washington against Yin Kecheng and Zhou Shuai, alleged members of hacker group "APT 27," also known as "Silk Typhoon."
The United States sanctioned Yin in January for alleged involvement in a hack of the Treasury Department last year. According to US media outlets, then-Treasury secretary Janet Yellen and other senior Treasury officials were among those targeted. The State Department announced a reward of $2 million each for information leading to the arrest of Yin and Zhou, who are believed to be in China.
Beijing rejects the allegations, and has previously said it opposes and cracks down on cyberattacks.
