The United States Department of Justice announced on Tuesday (September 17) that it has filed a lawsuit in Chicago, Illinois against Chinese citizen Jia Wei, accusing him of illegally intruding into a US telecommunications company’s computer network, stealing trade secrets, and providing this information to entities in China.
The indictment disclosed by the Department of Justice shows that Jia Wei is a soldier of the Chinese Communist Army’s Unit 61786, which is part of the information intelligence department of the Chinese Communist Party, under the First Bureau of the Third Department of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army, located in Haidian District, Beijing. Jia Wei was assigned to this unit and was responsible for obtaining communications and information from third parties through computer hacking attacks.
Assistant Secretary of Commerce Matthew Axelrod stated, “We launched the Disruptive Technology Strike Force a year and a half ago to protect US technology.”
Axelrod added, “Today’s announcement shows that our efforts to protect sensitive US technology – including bringing 24 public criminal cases, imposing fines in the millions of dollars, and repeatedly placing entities on the entity list – will remain steadfast and unwavering.”
Robert Storch, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, said, “We will continue to collaborate with the Department of Justice and our partners in combating crime to thwart the schemes of criminals whose activities threaten US security.”
Currently, the FBI’s Chicago office is investigating this case.
According to the indictment, in March 2017, Jia Wei and his accomplices (including other members of Unit 61786) accessed the network of the US company without authorization just days after filing a civil lawsuit against a Chinese competitor company for stealing trade secrets related to communication equipment.
Through this unauthorized access, Jia Wei and his accomplices stole a large number of documents from the US company, including civilian and military communication equipment, product development, testing plans, internal product evaluations, and information about competitors.
During the unauthorized access, Jia Wei and his accomplices attempted to install malicious software to maintain access to the US company’s network. Jia Wei’s unauthorized access continued until late May 2017.
In March 2022, prosecutors charged Jia Wei with six counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, computer intrusions, and aggravated identity theft.
The Department of Justice stated that an arrest warrant has been issued for Jia Wei.
If convicted, Jia Wei could face up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, up to 5 years for each count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, and mandatory consecutive two-year imprisonment for each count of aggravated identity theft.
This is another case following the Department of Justice’s announcement on Monday (September 16) of the indictment of Song Wu, an employee of the Chinese state-owned enterprise Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), for attempting to infiltrate the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), US military, research universities, and other targets, another example of Chinese illegal acquisition of sensitive US technology and trade secrets.