A health worker checks a screen at the COVID-19 area of the 32nd Zone General Hospital of the Mexican Social Security Institute in Mexico City, on July 20, 2020, amid the new coronavirus pandemic. PEDRO PARDO / AFPTwo Chinese nationals have been indicted for seeking to steal COVID-19 vaccine research and hacking hundreds of companies in the United States and abroad, the US Justice Department said Tuesday.
“China has now taken its place, alongside Russia, Iran, and North Korea, in that shameful club of nations that provide a safe haven for cybercriminals,” Demers said. “Targeted industries included, among others, high tech manufacturing; medical device, civil, and industrial engineering; business, educational, and gaming software; solar energy; pharmaceuticals; defense,” it said.
According to the indictment, they supplied the Ministry of State Security with passwords for personal email accounts belonging to Chinese dissidents, a Hong Kong community organizer, the pastor of a Christian church in Xi’an and a former Tiananmen Square protestor.They were accused of stealing source code from software companies, information about drugs under development from pharmaceutical firms and weapons designs and testing data from defense contractors.
Li and Dong were charged with conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets, wire fraud, unauthorized access of a computer and identity theft.