‘Vax hack’ from China

DOJ raps ‘spies’

Two hackers backed by China carried out a worldwide campaign to swipe coronavirus vaccine research from government agencies and private companies, the Department of Justice said Tuesday.

The two men allegedly worked with the Chinese Ministry of State Security and the Guangdong State Security Department to conduct a “sweeping global computer intrusion campaign,” Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in a statement.

Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 31, targeted intellectual property and confidential business information held by companies related to coronavirus treatment, testing and vaccines, according to an 11count indictment.

Pharmaceutical and defense companies, high-tech manufacturing, makers of medical devices, software developers and solar-energy companies were among the industries targeted.

The charges allege the hackers also tried to access the accounts of nongovernmental organizations, dissidents, clergy and humanrights activists in the United

States, China and Hong Kong.

“According to the indictment, these malicious cyber activities began more than 10 years ago and were ongoing as of the date of the indictment,” Demers said. “During that time, the hackers stole terabytes of data from hundreds of targets, establishing themselves as a prolific threat to US and foreign networks.”

The indictment, filed in US District Court in Washington State, also said the two were in it for personal financial gain, with Li threatening to expose one company’s confidential information on the Internet unless it paid him $15,000 in cryptocurrency.

The two also stole “hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of trade secrets, intellectual property and other valuable business information,” according to the indictment.

The indictments show that Beijing is using cyber thefts as part of a worldwide campaign to “rob, replicate and replace” non-Chinese companies in the global marketplace, the DOJ charged.

The US intelligence community has warned that Chinese and Russian hackers are trying to pilfer coronavirus research data.