Alleged hackers target Canada

OTTAWA (CP) — Companies in Canada were among the targets of two Chinese citizens charged with waging an extensive hacking campaign to steal valuable data over many years, U.S. authorities say.

In an indictment unsealed Thursday, prosecutors say Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong were acting on behalf of China’s main intelligence agency to pilfer information from several countries.

Beginning about four years ago, Zhu and Zhang waged an intrusion campaign to gain access to computers and networks of “managed service providers” for businesses and governments around the world, the indictment says.

Such providers are private firms that manage clients’ information by furnishing servers, storage, networking, consulting and information-technology support. Breaking into one such computer system can provide a route into multiple customers’ data; the hackers breached the computers of enterprises involved in activities ranging from banking and telecommunications to mining and health care, say the papers filed in U.S. District Court.

The indictment says Zhu and Zhang are members of a group operating in China known as Advanced Persistent Threat 10. They purportedly broke into computers belonging to — or providing services to — companies in at least 12 countries, including Canada.