Seven Chinese Nationals Charged With Operating CCP-Backed Hacking Group to Target Critics of China, US Businesses, Politicians

Seven Chinese nationals have been indicted on federal charges for their alleged involvement in a hacking group that spent over a decade targeting U.S. and foreign critics of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), politicians, and businesses to support the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives, according to an indictment unsealed Monday by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

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The seven defendants charged in the indictment are Ni Gaobin, 38; Weng Ming, 37; Cheng Feng, 34; Peng Yaowen, 38; Sun Xiaohui, 38; Xiong Wang, 35; and Zhao Guangzong, 38. All are believed to reside in the PRC, the Justice Department said.

“The Justice Department will not tolerate efforts by the Chinese government to intimidate Americans who serve the public, silence the dissidents who are protected by American laws, or steal from American businesses,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“This case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics, including launching malicious cyber operations aimed at threatening the national security of the United States and our allies,” Garland said.

As set forth in the 27-page indictment, the Chinese nationals are accused of working alongside the PRC’s Ministry of State Security to operate a hacking group operating from within the PRC known as the “Advanced Persistent Threat 31” (the APT31 Group) from as early as 2010.

The APT31 Group, according to the Justice Department, targeted thousands of U.S. and foreign individuals and businesses, resulting in compromising the targets’ networks, email accounts, cloud storage accounts, and phone records.

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The hacking scheme would allegedly involve phishing emails sent by APT31 to victims, which appeared to be from prominent news outlets or journalists with links to apparently legitimate news articles, but which actually contained hidden tracking links.

Those malicious tracking links, if the victim opened the email, would result in the victim’s location, internet protocol (IP) address, network schematics, and device information, being transferred to a APT31-controlled network, allowing the hacker group to more easily hack the email recipient’s home routers and other electronic devices.

In one example, the APT31 Group is accused of targeting various foreign government officials in or about 2021 who were part of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group founded for the purpose of countering the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to the international order and democratic principles.

The group of Chinese hackers is accused of targeting every European Union member of IPAC, including 43 U.K. parliamentary accounts, most of whom were members of IPAC or had been outspoken critics of the CCP.

Additionally, the PRC-sponsored APT31 is alleged to have contributed to the loss of billions of dollars annually as a result of corporate espionage and the theft of trade secrets and technology from American businesses that were transferred to the PRC.

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The Chinese hacking group targeted individuals and dozens of companies operating in the defense, information technology, telecommunications, manufacturing and trade, finance, consulting, legal, and research industries, according to the DOJ.

The politicians and U.S. government officials targeted by the group included high-ranking individuals working in the White House, DOJ, the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and State, as well as U.S. Senators and Representatives of both political parties.

The Justice Department accused the CCP-backed hackers of targeting the professional and personal email addresses of U.S. government officials and politicians, as well as election campaign staff from both parties in advance of the 2020 election.

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“Today’s announcement exposes China’s continuous and brash efforts to undermine our nation’s cybersecurity and target Americans and our innovation,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said Monday.

“As long as China continues to target the US and our partners, the FBI will continue to send a clear message that cyber espionage will not be tolerated, and we will tirelessly pursue those who threaten our nation’s security and prosperity,” Wray said. “This indictment underscores our unwavering commitment to disrupt and deter malicious cyber activity, and safeguard our citizens, businesses, and critical infrastructure from threats in cyberspace.”

The seven Chinese national defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

In addition to the criminal charges, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Monday that they will be sanctioning defendants Zhao and Ni, as well as the Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, for their “roles in malicious cyber activities targeting U.S. critical infrastructure sectors that present a significant threat to U.S. national security.”

The U.S. State Department said that they are offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on the group and the defendants.

The full indictment can be read here.