The Justice Department and FBI announced Monday that millions of Americans' online accounts were caught in a “sinister” Chinese hacking scheme targeting American officials.
Seven Chinese nationals have been charged with carrying out a large-scale cyber attack campaign.
They are accused of involvement in a hacking operation that spanned 14 years.
The US State Department has announced a reward of up to $10 million (£8 million) for information about the seven men.
The Justice Department announced that the hackers targeted companies and politicians in the United States and abroad who are critical of China.
The seven were responsible for what the Department of Justice called a “massive global hacking operation” backed by the Chinese government, which included more than 10,000 “malicious emails impacting thousands of victims on multiple continents.” ” is said to have been sent.
“Today's announcement exposes China's continued and reckless efforts to undermine our nation's cybersecurity and target Americans and our innovation,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
He added: “As long as China continues to target the United States and its partners, the FBI will continue to send a clear message that cyberespionage will not be tolerated and we will relentlessly pursue those who threaten our security and prosperity.” .
The accusations came after the British government also accused China of being responsible for a “malicious cyber campaign” targeting the country's electoral commission and politicians.
The Chinese embassy in London called the accusations “a completely fabricated and malicious slander” and said it “strongly opposes” them. The Chinese embassy in Washington DC has not yet responded to the US claims.
In an indictment against seven Chinese men, U.S. prosecutors said their work accounts, personal emails, online storage, and call records were confirmed or could have been compromised through hacking. He said that there is a sex.
The emails they allegedly sent to their targets often came from prominent news organizations and journalists and contained hidden tracking links. If someone opens the email, information such as her location and her IP address will be sent to a server controlled by the seven defendants.
This information was then used to enable “more direct and sophisticated targeted hacking, including compromising recipients' home routers and other electronic devices,” U.S. prosecutors said.
It is said to have targeted not only U.S. government employees in the White House and the U.S. State Department, and in some cases their spouses, but also foreign dissidents around the world.
In one example, the Justice Department said the men “successfully used the same malware to compromise Hong Kong democracy activists and their associates based in Hong Kong, the United States, and other foreign countries.”
American companies have also been hacked, and the men are said to have targeted defense, information technology, communications, manufacturing and trade, finance, consulting, law, and research industries.
The companies targeted include defense contractors serving the U.S. military and “major providers of 5G network equipment,” according to the Justice Department.