WASHINGTON – The Chinese targeted big-name American makers of nuclear and solar technology, stealing confidential business information, sensitive trade secrets and internal communications for competitive advantage, according to a grand jury indictment the Justice Department said should be a national “wake-up call” about cyber intrusions.
A company’s success in the international marketplace should not be based “on a sponsor government’s ability to spy and steal business secrets,” Attorney General Eric Holder declare.
China denied it all. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the charges were based on “fabricated facts” and would jeopardize China-U.S. “cooperation and mutual trust.”
Monday’s prosecution was announced on the heels of a separate worldwide operation over the weekend that resulted in the arrests of 97 people in 16 countries who are suspected of developing, distributing or using malicious software called BlackShades.
The new indictment attempts to distinguish spying for national security purposes – which the U.S. admits doing – from economic espionage intended to gain commercial advantage for private companies or industries, which the U.S. denies it does. Classified documents disclosed by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden have described aggressive U.S. efforts to eavesdrop on foreign communications that would be illegal in those countries.
American officials have flatly denied that the government spies on foreign companies and then hands over commercially valuable information to U.S. companies. In China, though, many companies are state owned, particularly those that supply the military.
