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AFP
US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein: “We want China to cease its illegal cyber activities”
The US justice department has announced criminal charges against two computer hackers said to be connected to China’s main intelligence service.
Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong allegedly targeted networks in the US and allied countries to steal confidential commercial and technical secrets.
They are part of a “hacking group” known as Advanced Persistent Threat 10, the indictment says.
It has been suggested that the two men are currently in China.
The UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden were also reportedly targeted.
Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong worked for a company called Huaying Haitai and in association with the Chinese Ministry of State Security, the court filing says.
US corporations involved in aviation, space and satellite technology, and government agencies including the Navy and the space agency Nasa were targeted, it adds.
Announcing the unsealing of the indictments, US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said China had violated a 2015 agreement under which it had pledged to not engage in commercial cyber-spying.
Mr Rosenstein said his department’s move had been co-ordinated with US allies in Europe and Asia to rebuff “China’s economic aggression”.
He added: “We want China to cease its illegal cyber activities.”