DOJ Files Cyber Espionage Charges Against Chinese Military Officials

The Justice Department has indicted five members of China’s People’s Liberation Army who were implicated in data thefts affecting U.S. companies, the New York Times reported Monday.

Michael Schmidt writes Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu and Gu Chunhui are members of the Shanghai-based hacking group called “Comment Crew.”

They are accused of stealing non-public data from a computer for commercial gains based on a report from security firm Mandiant, according to the report.

“We allege that members of unit 61398 conspired to hack into computers of six U.S. victims to steal information that would provide an economic advantage to the victims’ competitors, including Chinese state-owned enterprises,” John Carlin, an assistant attorney general for national security, told the Times.

Schmidt writes the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied the allegations and accused the U.S. of “fabricating facts.”