WASHINGTON—Federal prosecutors unsealed charges on Wednesday against five Chinese citizens that officials say appear linked to Chinese intelligence, accusing them of hacking more than 100 companies in the U.S. and overseas, including social-media firms, universities and telecommunications providers. Two Malaysian businessmen were arrested Monday in Malaysia and accused of conspiring with some of the Chinese hackers to profit from intrusions into the videogame industry, Justice Department officials said. The charges, laid out in three separate indictments, build on several other cases brought against accused Chinese hackers during the Trump administration, which has characterized Beijing’s cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property as a grave national and economic security threat. “The Department of Justice has used every tool available to disrupt the illegal computer intrusions and cyberattacks by these Chinese citizens,” Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said. “Regrettably, the Chinese Communist Party has chosen a different path of making China safe for cybercriminals so long as they attack computers outside China and steal intellectual property helpful to China.”

Source: Wall Street Journal September 16, 2020 15:11 UTC