US accuses seven Chinese nationals of cyber intrusions into critical infrastructure networks
The US has accused seven Chinese men of breaking into computer networks, email accounts, and cloud storage belonging to numerous critical infrastructure organizations, companies, and individuals, including US businesses, politicians, and their political parties, Azernews reports, citing The Register.
According to American prosecutors, the suspected spies are members of APT31, a cyber-espionage group said to be run by China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) out of Wuhan and otherwise known as Zirconium, Violet Typhoon, Judgment Panda, and Altaire.
And according to the UK government today, that's the same crew responsible for the attempted compromise of British politicians' email accounts in 2021.
Both the UK and the US sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology, said to be a front company for the MSS and its computer-intrusion activities, and two of the seven Chinese nationals for their alleged roles in that espionage. The UK also separately disclosed today that it believes its Electoral Commission was compromised between 2021 and 2022 by Chinese agents, who stole email data, and data from the Electoral Register.
The seven suspected members of APT31 charged by the United
States on Monday are: Ni Gaobin, 38; Weng Ming, 37; Cheng Feng, 34;
Peng Yaowen, 38; Sun Xiaohui, 38; Xiong Wang, 35; and Zhao
Guangzong, 38. Gaobin and Guangzong were the pair sanctioned by the
UK and US regarding Wuhan Xiaoruizhi.
All are believed to reside in the People's Republic of China, so
there's a slim-to-zero chance of them being arrested and extradited
to stand trial in the US, at least, for their alleged crimes.
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