US justice department on Tuesday Charged ten Chinese hackers along with two Chinese law enforcement officers in a cyberespionage campaign targeting dissidents, news organizations and federal agencies.
According to the justice department, the hacking activities carried out by I-Soon workers were directed by China’s ministry of public security. The ministry received the stolen data and chose the targets for the intrusions, which US officials describe as part of a large-scale intelligence-gathering operation.
US treasury department was among the targets of the hacking, which reported a breach last year.
According to news agency Associated Press, I-Soon is part of a sprawling industry of private hacking contractors which steal data from other countries and sell to the Chinese authorities.
In the past two decades, the Chinese state’s demand for overseas intelligence has significantly increased, leading to the emergence of a vast network of private hacker-for-hire companies that have breached hundreds of systems outside of China.