Chinese military hacker jailed and fined by US

By Lobsang Tenchoe

DHARAMSALA, July 15: A Chinese business man was charged with military hacking and jailed for nearly four years in the United States.

Su Bin, aged 51, acting on Beijing’s behalf has admitted to conspiring with two unnamed military officers in China. A federal judge pronounced his sentence of 3 years and 10 months and further issued an order to pay a fine of $10,000 for hacking American defense contractors to steal trade secrets on Beijing’s behalf.

Su had earlier admitted in a plea agreement with the US authorities in March to conspiring with two unnamed military officers in China to acquire plans for F-22 and F-35 fighter jets and Boeing’s C-17 military transport aircraft, reports Daily Mail, July 14.

According to the court documents, the trio managed to steal sensitive data by hacking into the computer networks of major defense contractors and sent the information to China, the report adds.

“Over the course of years, this defendant sought to undermine the national security of the United States by seeking out information that would benefit a foreign government and providing that country with information it had never before seen,” prosecutor Eileen Decker was quoted as saying in the report.

Working with his co-conspirators to steal the data, Su reportedly visited United States 10 times during 2008- 2014 and sent emails to his two accomplices in Beijing with directions on which persons, companies and technologies to target.

Lauding Su’s spying activities, a march editorial of a Chinese state-run media reads, “We are willing to show our gratitude and respect for his service to our country. On the secret battlefield without gunpowder, China needs special agents to gather secrets from the US.”

Washington and Beijing have frequently argued over what the US calls as rampant cyber spying by the Chinese government on US industry.

Last year, the US indicted five Chinese military officers on charges of cyber spying.