This past week we learned that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has teeth. JP Morgan Chase (JPMorgan) essentially, used the hiring of the children of Chinese leaders as a bribe in exchange for US$100,000,000 in deals in China a violation of the FCPA. In addition the bank violated the anti-bribery, books and records, and internal controls provisions of the …
Chinese Cyber Espionage: What’s leaving your smartphone?
This week we saw, possible evidence of, yet another form of the Chinese cyber espionage. Smartphones calling “home” to China with user data. This is every government’s worst counterintelligence and cyber security nightmare. We are warned, repeatedly about the threat of Chinese cyber espionage, especially those in the national security arena. For those in the private sector, having the data …
Agro Espionage – China’s corn espionage lead, MO Hailong, sentenced to prison
[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 15px;”][x_columnize]One chapter of the saga of China’s agro espionage targeting US research and development of corn has come to a close with the sentencing Mo Hailong, a/k/a Robert Mo, 46, a Chinese national. According to the Department of Justice, Mo was sentenced to …
Agro Espionage – Rice to China – Wengui Yan’s guilty plea
On 24 October 2016, Wengui Yan, an Arkansas resident, an employee of the USDA Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center since 1996, and a naturalized US citizen originally from the PRC, successfully negotiated a plea-bargain with the Kansas US Attorney in his agro espionage case. Yan and his co-defendant, Weiqiang Zhang, PRC citizen, facilitated the theft of genetic rice from the …
IP Theft: Crowdfunding sites harvested by Chinese counterfeiters
It should surprise no one to learn that the Chinese factories which are engaged the production of counterfeit goods produce goods which are identical or indistinguishable from the originals. The factories are engaged in intellectual property theft (IP theft) and are building their products by reverse engineering a product then creating the counterfeit version, or creating the counterfeit product by stealing …
Rest easy: China says U.S. OPM data breach was criminal
Reuters recently reported how the Chinese are claiming they have concluded their official investigation into the allegation that the Chinese government were responsible for the Office of Personnel Management data breach which compromised the identities of ~20 million individuals government clearance portfolios. It is interesting to note, the Chinese government spokesperson did not indicate the US Government response to this …
VOA – More Questions than Answers About China Internet Outage
More Questions than Answers About China Internet Outage – (January 22, 2014): Chinese Internet users are now able to access numerous websites including Baidu and Sina Weibo after the country once again experienced massive outages Tuesday. According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), which “operates and administers country code top-level domain of .cn and Chinese domain name system,” …
Espionage in the Heartland: Rice to China
On 12 December 2013, a criminal complaint was filed by the United States Attorney in the Kansas District, petitioning for the arrest of two individuals, with ties to China, for the theft of trade secrets from Ventria Bioscience and other companies. Subsequently, these same two individuals were indicted for “conspiracy to steal trade secrets” by a federal grand jury on …
Espionage in the Heartland: Corn to China
Espionage in the heartland of the United States? For two-plus years, perhaps for as many as four, a different type of harvesting has been occurring throughout the heartland of the United States. According to the criminal complaint (see below), filed by the United States Attorney, Nicholas A. Klinefeldt, a Chinese company, Kings Nower Seed, and their personnel have been harvesting more …
VOA: China hit by ‘Largest ever’ hack attack
China hit by ‘Largest ever’ hack attack – (August 26, 2013): Large parts of China’s Internet went dark this past weekend as the country came under what the Beijing government is calling the “largest ever” hack attack on Chinese sites. According to The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), which “operates and administers country code top level domain of .cn and …
Nation States’ Espionage and Counterespionage – An overview of the Economic Espionage landscape of 2007
Though we are mid-way through 2013, I refer to a study I wrote in 2008 as it contains many data points applicable today. In 2008 I published via CSO Online a study on the Economic Espionage landscape of 2007, detailing how the many countries which share this world are both complaining at having been targeted or victimized, while others …
China’s intellectual property advance
Prevendra’s Christopher Burgess posted a piece on China in the Huffington Post – China’s Military – Here we are!, which noted how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been eating the West’s intellectual property lunch for the past 25+ years in accordance with the PRC”s published doctrine. Especially worthy of note for those following the national security and geopolitical …