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USA charges Chinese officials with nuclear cyberspying

Chinese officials indicted in nuclear cyberspying case, By Eric Tucker, The Times of Israel, 19 May 14 US announces unprecedented charges against military hackers who targeted big-name firms, stole trade secrets WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States announced on Monday unprecedented cyber espionage charges against five Chinese military officials accused of hacking into US companies to gain trade secrets The hackers targeted big-name makers of nuclear and solar technology, stealing confidential business information, sensitive trade secrets and internal communications for competitive advantage, according to a grand jury indictment……..

The indictment says that five hackers — members of the People’s Liberation Army — worked from a building in Shanghai to steal proprietary information from the companies and the labor union, including communications that could have helped Chinese firms learn strategies and weaknesses of American companies involved in litigation with the Chinese government or Chinese firms.

The defendants are all believed to be in China and it was unclear whether they would ever be turned over to the US for prosecution. But the Justice Department, publicizing the charges, identified all five by name and issued “wanted” posters………

The indictment will put a greater strain on the US-China relationship and could provoke retaliatory acts in China or elsewhere.

“What we can expect to happen is for the Chinese government to indict individuals in the United States who they will accuse of hacking into computers there,” said Mark Rasch, a former US cybercrimes prosecutor. “Everybody now is going to jump into the act, using their own criminal laws to go after what other countries are doing.”

Rasch said the indictments attempt to distinguish spying for national security purposes — which the US admits doing — from economic espionage intended to gain commercial advantage for private companies or industries, which the US denies it does. Classified documents disclosed by former National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden described aggressive US efforts to eavesdrop on foreign communications that would be illegal in those countries.

“These five people were just doing their jobs. It’s just that we object to what their jobs are,” Rasch said. “We have tens of thousands of dedicated, hard-working Americans who are just doing their jobs, too.”

Unlike in some countries, there are no nationalized US industries. American officials have flatly denied that the government spies on foreign companies and then hands over commercially valuable information to American companies.  http://www.timesofisrael.com/chinese-officials-indicted-in-nuclear-cyberspying-case/#ixzz32JH7SA85

May 20, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, politics international, secrets,lies and civil liberties