Chinese Indicted Over Hacking That Targeted COVID-19 Vaccine

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday indicted two Chinese hackers in a conspiracy that allegedly allowed them to steal hundreds of millions of dollars in trade secrets from companies throughout the world, as well as target biotech firms developing a vaccine for the coronavirus.

The 11-count indictment charges Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi in a conspiracy that began more than a decade ago, according to the Washington Post.

The pair is accused of hacking companies engaged in high-tech manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and gaming software development, and with targeting dissidents, clergy and human rights activists in the United States, China and Hong Kong, the Post reported.

The indictment includes charges of trade secret theft and wire fraud conspiracy against the hackers, who federal prosecutors say hacked not only for their own profit but also for the Chinese Ministry of State Security, a civilian spy agency responsible for counterintelligence, foreign intelligence and domestic political security.

The case, filed earlier this month in federal court in Washington state and unsealed Tuesday, also accuses the Chinese government of aiding the hackers.

The charges are believed to be the first accusing foreign hackers of targeting scientific innovation related to the coronavirus, the Associated Press reported, though U.S. and Western intelligence agencies have warned for months about those efforts.

The victims are not named in the indictment but include firms in California, Maryland, Washington state, Texas, Virginia and Massachusetts.

Last week, authorities in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom accused a hacking group with links to Russian intelligence with trying to target research on the disease.