U.S. Justice Department indicts Chinese hackers

The Justice Department alleged in the indictment released Monday that the seven hackers worked for the Chinese government and targeted foreign governments and businesses for roughly 14 years. The hackers also sought to intimidate Americans and harass China’s critics and dissidents abroad, according to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

What exactly did these hackers do? The indictment alleges that they worked with the Chinese government to engage in “network intrusion activity,” including the distribution of more than 10,000 malicious email messages to U.S. government officials and contractors.

What was the aim of this? Justice Department officials said in a statement that the Chinese government was seeking to undermine U.S. government cybersecurity, steal American innovation, and achieve Chinese foreign espionage and intelligence objectives.

How has the Chinese government responded? Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., said in a statement to WORLD that the Department of Justice had jumped to an “unwarranted conclusion” and that the allegations were “groundless.”

Dig deeper: Read Brad Littlejohn’s column in WORLD Opinions about how we must be on the lookout for election-year deepfakes.