US Charges 4 Chinese Nationals in Hacking Campaign

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Justice Department on Monday announced charges against three Chinese intelligence officers and a Chinese computer hacker in connection with an unlawful cyber campaign that pilfered trade secrets and confidential information from dozens of companies, universities and government entities in the United States and 11 other countries between 2011 and 2018.  

The theft included information about sensitive technologies, that was "of significant economic benefit to China's companies and commercial sectors," the department said, adding that the hackers targeted research institutes and universities to steal infectious-disease research on Ebola, MERS, and HIV/AIDS.  Like the closely related Ebola virus, the Marburg virus can cause massive internal bleeding, organ failure, fever, shock and delirium, and usually death. Tularemia is a potentially fatal bacterial disease found in rabbits. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people could become exposed through bioterrorism.  The announcement came as the administration of President Joe Biden and its allies formally attributed a massive cyberattack on the Microsoft Exchange Server email software earlier this year to hackers tied to China's Ministry of State Security.