In case you need more reasons to worry about escalating tensions between the US and China, the FBI is now circulating Wanted posters for five officers of the People’s Liberation Army. This isn’t just a fun let’s-see-what-happens exercise. These guys have been charged with some serious cyber crimes.
These are those Chinese hackers you keep hearing about. Ever since The New York Times published the findings of an investigation into attacks on their own servers, we’ve been learning more and more about a specific branch of the PLA that appeared to be solely tasked with hacking American assets. Charges were finally levied on May 1, and the FBI’s new Wanted posters list them ad nauseam, everything from aggravated identity theft to economic espionage. These are serious crimes, and the very existence of these Wanted posters shows how the government wants everyone to view these suspects as serious criminals.
Of course, Wanted posters are issued for hackers all the time, and they’re just posters. Still, it’s intriguing to see the list of complaints laid bare, and to have some concerns over just how far — and how fast — our cyber disputes with China will go. [FBI via Devlin Barrett]
