US accuses two Chinese hackers of targeting coronavirus vaccine research

Two men conspired with Chinese intelligence agencies to steal data from a range of U.S. targets in the medical and defense sectors, including an effort to beach firms working on a potential vaccine for the coronavirus, U.S. Department of Justice officials said Tuesday. The suspects, Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi, stole terabytes of information from computers around the world while based in China, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday. The espionage campaign predates the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said. For more than a decade, the pair allegedly targeted health care firms, pharmaceutical companies, U.S. universities, maritime engineering firms, biotechnology innovation centers and a range of other targets. The suspects worked with the Chinese Ministry of State Security, said Assistant Attorney General John Demers, though they also hacked for personal profit. Attackers also targeted Chinese dissidents and human rights activists in the U.S., according to the indictment. The scheme began no later than September 2009 and continued […]

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