The Justice Department accused a pair of Chinese hackers on Tuesday of targeting vaccine development on behalf of the country’s intelligence service as part of a broader yearslong campaign of cybertheft aimed at industries around the world, including defense contractors, high-end manufacturing and solar energy companies.

Two suspects in China targeted companies working on vaccines as part of a broader cybertheft campaign to enrich themselves and aid the Chinese government, officials said.

Justice Department officials labeled the suspects, Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi, as a blended threat who sometimes worked on behalf of China’s spy services and sometimes worked to enrich themselves. The officials said that an indictment secured against them this month and unsealed on Tuesday was the first to target such a threat.

American government officials said that the suspects had previously stolen information about other Chinese intelligence targets like human rights activists and, at the behest of China’s spy service, shifted focus this year to trying to acquire coronavirus vaccine research.

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The indictment came as the Trump administration has stepped up its criticism of Beijing, both for its theft of secrets and its failure to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, and is a significant escalation of that campaign to denounce Beijing. The Justice Department said that China’s covert activity could potentially set back research efforts.

The accusations also came days after the United States and allied countries accused Russia of trying to steal information on vaccine development.

Justice Department and F.B.I. officials said the hackers were pursuing information and research about the coronavirus vaccine from American biotech firms but described it as an attempt. The indictment did not say the hackers successfully stole information or research on the vaccine.

The pair did try to hack a Massachusetts biotech firm researching a vaccine as early as Jan 27, according to the indictment. On Feb. 1, the pair tried to find vulnerabilities on the networks of a California biotech firm that had announced it was researching coronavirus antiviral drugs. Then, in May, Mr. Li investigated a California diagnostic firm developing virus testing kits.

Source : The New York Times

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