US Justice Department charges eight employees of Chinese technology company i-Soon

Washington, DC: On Wednesday (local time), the US Department of Justice unveiled charges accusing two officials of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS), eight workers of the Chinese technology business i-Soon, and Zhou Shuai and Yin Kecheng of a number of hacking-related crimes.

Additionally, Zhou Shuai, a malevolent cyber actor and data broker headquartered in Shanghai, and his business, Shanghai Heiying Information Technology Company, were subject to penalties from the United States. Zhou Shuai unlawfully obtained, brokered, and sold data from very sensitive US critical infrastructure networks, such as those in the government, communications, military industrial base, and health sectors, according to a statement from US Department of State spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.

According to the announcement, the US Department of State announced reward offers of up to USD 2 million each under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) for information that resulted in Zhou Shuai and Yin Kecheng’s arrests and/or convictions.

“These malicious cyber actors, acting as freelancers or as employees of i-Soon, conducted computer intrusions on their own initiative and at the direction of the PRC’s MPS and Ministry of State Security (MSS),” the US Department of Justice said in a news statement. For stolen data, the MPS and MSS made large payments. Critics and dissidents of the PRC headquartered in the United States, a major American religious group, the foreign ministries of many Asian nations, and US federal and state government organizations—including the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in late 2024—are among the victims.

Furthermore, information on i-Soon, its staff, and the MPS officers involved in the harmful cyber activities mentioned in the Department of Justice’s charges might earn up to USD 10 million under the Diplomatic Security Service’s Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ).

“As demonstrated by today’s and earlier announcements, China provides safe harbor for private sector companies that engage in malicious cyber activity against the United States and its partners,” Tammy Bruce said in a news statement. Additionally, they seem to be contracted by the Chinese Communist Party with differing degrees of efficacy and control. Malicious cybercriminals with Chinese support remain one of the biggest and most enduring dangers to US national security.

“Today’s multi-agency operation demonstrates our whole-of-government strategy for safeguarding Americans, their private information, and our vital networks from cyber attacks originating in China.

“We will resolutely use all the tools at our disposal to protect the American people and US critical infrastructure from these pervasive threats,” he said. “President Trump is committed to doing just that.”

“The Department of Justice will relentlessly pursue those who threaten our cybersecurity by stealing from our government and our people,” said Sue J. Bai, chief of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Today, we are revealing the Chinese government operatives who are orchestrating and supporting careless and indiscriminate assaults on computers and networks throughout the globe, along with the firms that enable these attacks and the individual hackers they have liberated. In order to safeguard our national security and destroy this network of cyber mercenaries, we will not give up.”

The FBI is committed to defending Americans against cyberattacks from overseas, said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division.

“The Chinese Ministry of Public Security has been paying hackers-for-hire to do digital damage to Americans who criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to today’s disclosures. We express our gratitude to the victims who courageously came forward with proof of intrusions, for standing strong and protecting our democracy. According to Bryan Vorndran, “these charges should show that we will use all available tools to identify you, indict you, and expose your malicious activity for all the world to see, if you choose to assist the CCP in its unlawful cyber activities.”