BCM China hacking charges: the Chinese army's Unit 61398

The hacking charges brought by the US today were levelled against five members of Unit 61398, a shadowy division of the Chinese military allegedly responsible for waves of cyber attacks against Western businesses.

Based out of a 12-storey building in the outskirts of Shanghai, Unit 61398 is believed to be staffed by thousands of Chinese "cyber-troops" acting on the direct orders of the People's Liberation Army.

Its personnel are highly trained in computer networking but must also be proficient in English as most of its targets are in the US, according to Mandiant, an American cybersecurity firm.

Unit 61398 is believed to have begun operations in 2006 and since then has allegedly hacked into the networks of more than 140 western firms in pursuit of corporate secrets.

While countries across the world are developing cyber capabilities, China is unique in that it uses its military to gain commercial advantages over foreign competitors, said Jen Weedon, threat intelligence manager at FireEye, an American cybersecurity firm.

"What makes Unit 61398 stand out is that it is operating under government orders but carrying out espionage for corporate reasons," she said.

Its hacking is allegedly carried out in support of broader Chinese government political and economic strategic initiatives. For example, at the same time China began investing in bio-pharmaceutical technology, Unit 61398 reportedly began targeting US bio-pharmaceutical companies to try to steal their technology.

"While the men and women of our American businesses spent their business days innovating...these members of Unit 61398 were spending their business days in Shanghai stealing the fruits of our labour," said John Carlin, assistant US attorney general for national security.

China has consistently denied that Unit 61398 carries out hacking, calling the allegations "irresponsible and unprofessional".

The five men charged by US prosecutors - Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu, and Gu Chunhui - are all described as "officers" but are believed to be low-level figures rather than senior commanders.

The unit's leader remains unknown, although it is believed to be part of the General Staff Department, the Chinese equivalent of the US joint chiefs of staff, America's top military council.

The 56-page indictment offers remarkable detail about the alleged hackers' methods. For example, it describes how Wang used the alias "UglyGorilla" to register domains that would later be used in hacking attacks on American steel and nuclear companies.

All five men are said to be based in a tower block on Datong Road in Gaoqiaozhen, a residential neighbourhood around 40 minutes outside of central Shanghai.

The building is not identified as a military facility but uniformed soldiers guard its entrance and a compound for troops' families next door is emblazoned with a propaganda plaque reading: "Be faithful and loyal to the Party. Love the people. Dedicate yourself to the cause."

The scale of Unit's 61398's extensive hacking operations were made possible by special fibre optic lines given to the Chinese military by the state-owned China Telecom firm "in the name of the national defence", according to Mandiant.

President Barack Obama has promised to take a firmer stand against Chinese hacking and raised the issue with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.

"We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy," Mr Obama said during his 2013 State of the Union address.

美国今天对 61398 部队的五名成员提出了黑客指控，该部队是中国军队的一个秘密部门，据称对西方企业发起了一波又一波的网络攻击。

61398 部队驻扎在上海郊区的一栋 12 层建筑内，据信拥有数千名中国“网络部队”，按照中国人民解放军的直接命令行事。

美国网络安全公司 Mandiant 表示，其人员在计算机网络方面接受过严格培训，但也必须精通英语，因为其大多数目标都在美国。

据信，61398 部队于 2006 年开始运作，自那时起，据称已侵入 140 多家西方公司的网络以窃取公司机密。

美国网络安全公司 FireEye 威胁情报经理 Jen Weedon 表示，虽然世界各国都在发展网络能力，但中国的独特之处在于，它利用其军事力量来获得相对于外国竞争对手的商业优势。

“61398 部队之所以脱颖而出，是因为它是根据政府命令运作的，但出于企业原因进行间谍活动，”她说。

据称，其黑客攻击是为了支持更广泛的中国政府政治和经济战略举措。例如，在中国开始投资生物制药技术的同时，据报道，61398部队开始瞄准美国生物制药公司，试图窃取他们的技术。

美国负责国家安全事务的助理司法部长约翰·卡林 (John Carlin) 表示：“当我们美国企业的男男女女在工作日进行创新时……这些 61398 部队的成员却在上海度过了工作日，窃取我们的劳动成果。”

中国一贯否认61398部队进行黑客攻击，称这些指控“不负责任、不专业”。

被美国检察官指控的五名男子——王栋、孙凯良、温新宇、黄振宇和顾春晖——都被描述为“军官”，但据信是低级别人物，而不是高级指挥官。

该部队的领导者仍然未知，但据信是总参谋部的一部分，总参谋部相当于美国的参谋长联席会议，是美国的最高军事委员会。

这份长达 56 页的起诉书提供了有关被指控的黑客方法的惊人细节。例如，它描述了王如何使用别名“UglyGorilla”注册域名，这些域名后来被用于对美国钢铁和核公司的黑客攻击。

据称，这五名男子均居住在高桥镇大同路的一座塔楼里，高桥镇是一个住宅区，距离上海市中心约 40 分钟路程。

该建筑未被认定为军事设施，但身穿制服的士兵把守着入口，隔壁的军人家属大院挂着一块宣传牌，上面写着：“忠诚于党热爱人民报效国家献身使命崇尚荣誉”

Mandiant 表示，61398 部队大规模的黑客行动是通过国有的中国电信公司“以国防的名义”向中国军方提供的特殊光纤线路实现的。

美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)承诺对中国黑客行为采取更坚定的立场，并向中国国家主席习近平提出了这一问题。

奥巴马在 2013 年国情咨文演讲中表示：“多年以后，我们不能回顾过去，思考为什么我们在面临安全和经济面临的真正威胁时无所作为。”

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China hacking charges: the Chinese army's Unit 61398

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