US Accuses Chinese Officials of Cyber-Espionage; Charges 5 with Hacking Firms to Get Trade Secrets

The United States today (May 19, 2014) brought the first of its kind cyber-espionage charges against five Chinese military officials accused of hacking into U.S. companies to gain trade secrets, the Huffington Post website reports.

According to the indictment, hackers targeted the U.S. nuclear power, metals and solar products industries and are accused of stealing trade secrets and economic espionage. The victims are Alcoa World Alumina, Westinghouse Electric Co., Allegheny Technologies, U.S. Steel Corp., United Steelworkers Union, and SolarWorld, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said.

"The alleged hacking appears to have been conducted for no other reason than to advantage state-owned companies and other interests in China at the expense of businesses here in the United States," Holder said at the Justice Department. "This is a tactic that the United States government categorically denounces."

Bob Anderson Jr.  - executive assistant director of the FBI's criminal, cyber response and services division -- said: "This is the new normal. This is what you're going to see on a recurring basis."