Washington DC: According to a statement from the US State Department, the US has taken several measures against APT 31, a cyber threat group associated with the Chinese government that has targeted politicians, government employees, and other individuals in the US.
According to the State Department, the US government is launching a series of measures against APT31, a cyber threat group affiliated with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that has targeted US politicians, government officials, campaign officials, various US defence and economic entities, and international democracy activists and academics. Several individuals and organizations will be the targets of the actions.
The US State Department has declared many individuals and groups to be the targets of criminal prosecutions. Criminal charges against hackers from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have been announced by the US State Department. Additionally, it said that an indictment against Ni Gaobin, Weng Ming, Cheng Feng, Peng Yaowen, Sun Xiaohuannouncedi, Xiong Wang, and Zhao Guangzon had been unsealed by the US Department of Justice. The indictment charged them with conspiring to commit an offence against the US in violation of 18 USC SS 371 and to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 USC SS1349.
By Executive Order 13694, they also declared that Zhao, Ni, and the Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Limited will be sanctioned for their actions in hostile cyber operations against the US critical infrastructure sector, which pose a serious risk to national security. Additionally, the US Department of Justice announced a reward of up to USD 10 million to anyone with information about the defendants and the gang.
A reward of up to $10 million is being offered by the US Department of State’s RFJ program for information on the defendants and the gang. The RFJ program looks for information on anyone who violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by engaging in specific malicious cyber activities while acting on behalf of or under the control of a foreign government.
These PRC-sponsored actors have targeted the US government and defence sectors, as well as US corporate trade secrets and intellectual property. The statement went on to say that the US will keep stopping this and other state-sponsored cyberattacks’ reckless and deadly behaviour.
