The New York Times magazine tells the story of an innocuous-seeming message on LinkedIn in 2017 from Qu Hui, the deputy director of the China-based Provincial Association for International Science and Technology Development.Federal agents eventually obtained search warrants for two Gmail addresses the official was using, and "In what would prove to be a lucky break, the investigators found that each email address was the Apple ID used for an iPhone, linked to an iCloud account where data from the phones was periodically backed up. The agents were later able to obtain search warrants for the two iCloud accounts [that] opened a treasure trove. "Qu scheduled a meeting in Brussels with one American target — where he was arrested and extradited to America, becoming the first-ever Chinese intelligence official convicted on U.S. soil on charges of economic espionage.The article notes that the Chinese government "also offers financial incentives to help Chinese expats start their own businesses in China using trade secrets stolen from their American employers." It also cites a 2019 report from a congressional committee's security review that found "myriad ways in which Chinese companies, often backed by their government, help transfer strategic know-how from the United States to China. "One 2020 indictment blamed five "computer hackers" in China for breaching more than 100 organizations Thanks to Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the article.

Source: New York Times March 12, 2023 00:39 UTC