China’s state-backed hacking is ‘one of the greatest and most persistent threats to U.S. national security,’ the State Department said.
WASHINGTON—U.S. authorities have charged a dozen Chinese contract hackers and law enforcement officials for their involvement in a years-long hacking campaign to steal data from the U.S. government and undermine dissident groups.
The Epoch Times has learned that it was a victim of the hacking campaign.
Eight of the defendants work for i-Soon, a Chinese tech firm that has hacked victims around the globe, including U.S. government agencies and dissident groups that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) considers a threat, according to Department of Justice (DOJ) filings released on March 5.
From 2016 through 2023, i-Soon breached email accounts, cellphones, servers, and websites under Beijing’s instructions and made tens of millions of dollars from doing so, according to the DOJ. The company allegedly worked with 43 Chinese regime intelligence or police bureaus, charging between $10,000 and $75,000 for each email inbox hacked.
Its victims include The Epoch Times, a New York-based newspaper that publishes China-related news critical of the Chinese regime; an organization that promotes human rights in China; a U.S. religious organization with thousands of churches; a Washington-based U.S.-funded news service; the foreign ministries of Taiwan, India, South Korea, and Indonesia; a U.S.-based religious leader; and the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, U.S. Department of Commerce, and New York State Assembly.
The i-Soon associates, as well as two officials from China’s Ministry of Public Security, are charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, with a combined maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Hacking The Epoch Times
The i-Soon company used various methods to hack its victims. It trained Chinese Ministry of Public Security employees on hacking techniques, according to the court documents.
It allegedly sold bespoke software designed to target accounts on a range of applications, among them Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, Android cellphones, social media platform X, and computer systems such as Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.
Hackers targeted at least four news service agencies, including two newspapers based in New York state and one in Hong Kong, the document stated.
By Eva Fu and Dorothy Li
