Members of the People’s Liberation Army are said to have penetrated the computer system of the US financial service provider.
Almost 150 Million Americans Were Affected By The Cyber Attack
The hackers, who were acting on behalf of the Beijing government, had used it to steal data from almost every second US citizen, Justice Minister told journalists in Washington. The massive data theft was particularly explosive because the attackers had also got the victims social security numbers. In the USA, these numbers are often used for everyday identification, for example for mobile phone contracts or credit inquiries. In addition, the attackers also had access to names, dates of birth and addresses – and to the license numbers of at least ten million Americans.
Minister Barr spoke of a worrying and unacceptable pattern of government-sponsored hacker attacks from China. The accused Chinese therefore worked for a research institute that belongs to the Chinese armed forces. The US judiciary charges them with online fraud and industrial espionage, among other things.
U.S. investigators see the charges as a strong deterrent to foreign hackers and as a warning to other countries that US law enforcement agencies are able to investigate individual offenders behind the attacks. Companies were subsequently accused of neglecting security measures and therefore complicit in the hacker attack. The US suspects Chinese hackers are behind other data theft cases, including the agency that manages information from government officials. According to IT security experts, Chinese secret services can benefit significantly from the data.
That Was One Of The Biggest Data Leaks In History
The accused Chinese therefore worked for a research institute that belongs to the Chinese armed forces. The US judiciary charges them with online fraud and industrial espionage, among other things.
