The US Department of Justice announced late Friday that a Chinese businessman has been charged with hacking into the computer systems of Boeing, Lockheed Martin and other aerospace companies. The alleged hacker, Su Bin, is accused of helping unidentified co-conspirators to identify what to steal from the companies’ networks—including data on the F-22 and F-35 fighter aircraft and the C-17 cargo plane program. Su, also known as Stephen Su, an executive for a Chinese aerospace company with offices in Canada, was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia on June 28, in cooperation with the FBI.
SourceU.S. authorities have charged a Chinese businessman with hacking into the computer systems of U.S. companies with large defense contracts, including Boeing, to steal data on military projects, including some of its latest fighter jets, officials said Friday. Suspect Su Bin worked with two unnamed Chinese hackers to get the data between 2009 and 2013, and Su attempted to sell some of the information to state-owned Chinese companies, prosecutors said. The three hackers targeted fighter jets such as the F-22 and the F-35 as well as Boeing’s C-17 military cargo aircraft program, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles that was unsealed Thursday. An attorney for Su could not be reached for comment. Su was arrested in Canada on June 28 and remains in custody there, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller in Los Angeles. He has a bail hearing set for July 18. U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Marc Raimondi said the conspirators are alleged to have accessed the computer networks of U.S. defense contractors without authorization and stolen data related to military aircraft and weapons systems. “We remain deeply concerned about cyber-enabled theft of sensitive information, and we have repeatedly made it clear that the United States will continue using all the tools our government possesses to strengthen cyber security and confront cybercrime,” Raimondi said.
