{"id":17492,"date":"2018-12-20T21:24:56","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T21:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/20\/what-happens-next-after-chinas-alleged-theft-of-american-business-secrets\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:00:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:00:03","slug":"what-happens-next-after-chinas-alleged-theft-of-american-business-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/home\/2018\/12\/20\/what-happens-next-after-chinas-alleged-theft-of-american-business-secrets\/","title":{"rendered":"What happens next after China\u2019s alleged theft of American business secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Justice indicted two hackers associated with the Chinese<\/a> based ATP-10 group on Dec. 20 for conspiracy to commit computer intrusions against at least 45 organizations in the U.S. and worldwide, sparking calls for the U.S. to be more aggressive in cyberspace<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The focus of the hacking spree was an apparent attempt to steal American trade secrets for the benefit of Chinese firms, with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Goddard Space Center and seven companies involved in the aviation, space and satellite industry among the targets. More than 100,000 Navy personnel were also victims, with names, social security numbers, and other personal details stolen, according to the indictment against the two alleged Chinese hackers, Zhu Hua and Zhang Shilong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChina\u2019s goal simply put is to replace the U.S. as the world\u2019s leading superpower and they are using illegal methods to get there,\u201d said FBI director Christopher Wray. \u201cThey are using an expanding set of non-traditional and illegal methods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not return an email seeking comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the Chinese hacked<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese hackers relied on phishing<\/a> messages sent over email to gain access to victims computers, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cC17 antenna problems,\u201d read the subject line of one apparent phishing email, which had an attachment containing a malicious Microsoft Word document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managed service providers, who remotely store clients\u2019 information, were an apparent target for the Chinese hackers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy targeting managed service providers, or firms that store commercial data and intellectual property, the Chinese hackers could steal sensitive business information that gives Beijing based firms an unfair advantage,\u201d said Ron Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese tactics could put more attention on machine learning programs that can spot the intrusion method. More than 80 percent of cyber attacks and over 70 percent of those from nation states are initiated by exploiting humans rather than computer or network security flaws, according<\/a> to a fact sheet from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\t