Twelve Chinese nationals have been detained in the United States for allegedly participating in a large-scale hacking campaign that targeted, among other things, US government agencies, the US Justice Department said.
“The Justice Department, FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Departments of State and the Treasury announced today their coordinated efforts to disrupt and deter the malicious cyber activities of 12 Chinese nationals, including two officers of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Ministry of Public Security (MPS),” the department said in a statement on Wednesday.
The detainees, acting as freelancers or employees of a Chinese private company, hacked computers for a fee, allegedly on the instructions of the Chinese Ministry of State Security, the statement added.
In addition to US federal and state government agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, their activities have affected Chinese dissidents living in the US, the foreign ministries of several Asian countries, and a major religious organization, the statement read.
UNI SPUTNIK GNK
