US Charges Two Chinese Spies For a Global Hacking Campaign That Targeted COVID-19 Research (techcrunch.com) 76
U.S. prosecutors have charged two Chinese nationals, said to be working for China's state intelligence bureau, for their alleged involvement in a massive global hacking operation that targeted hundreds of companies and governments for more than a decade. From a report: The 11-count indictment, unsealed Tuesday, alleges Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 33, stole terabytes of data from high-technology companies, around the world -- including the United States, the prosecutors said. More recently, the prosecutors accused the hackers of targeting the networks of over a dozen U.S. companies in Maryland, Massachusetts and California developing vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. The indictment comes just weeks after both the FBI and Homeland Security warned that China was actively trying to steal U.S. research data related to the coronavirus pandemic. The hackers were first discovered after they targeted a U.S. Department of Energy network in Hanford, Washington, the Justice Department said.
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I find it also interesting that the US is keeping its research on the COVID-19 Virus so secret that Spies needed to get it.
For a global pandemic it would be much more effective to share the information so they are more people looking at the problem.
Re:Interesting..... (Score:5, Insightful)
For a global pandemic it would be much more effective to share the information so they are more people looking at the problem.
Most of the research is being done by profit-seeking corporations.
Under our current system, secrecy is needed to ensure the profits which motivate the research.
Perhaps we could have a different system with different incentives, but we don't have that yet, and it is silly to expect corporations to just magically turn into charities because their secrets were stolen.
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I find it also interesting that the US is keeping its research on the COVID-19 Virus so secret that Spies needed to get it.
I think that they were targeting stealing research from US corporations in general, and it's just that the most recent information grabs happened to be the most recent research topic of interest, COVID19 research
Re: Interesting..... (Score:2)
Aka they're being spies! ;)
Not saying it is right.
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For a global pandemic it would be much more effective to share the information so they are more people looking at the problem.
China needs to cover up what there lab did.
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the Chinese do have talented people they also have the CCP whose win at all costs tactics include steal IP from everyone Note these 2 alone have been doing this for more than a decade. Sadly when you steal IP you may not understand it or not get all the data which could be worse.
Do not believe China will give away the cure either unless they get something in return
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China will give away the cure for taiwan and say act now and don't let it get tied up on patent court
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Nixon and Carter formally gave Taiwan to China in the 70s. It has been American policy ever since we switched recognition that Taiwan is not a country, there is only one China, and that China is the PRC. American actions to the contrary since then have just been our usual dishonesty, so there's no reason the USA wouldn't just re-promise to recognize PRC sovereignty over Taiwan and go right back to ignoring our promise and selling Taiwan weapons once we have the vaccine. Of course China knows this and has no
Re: Interesting..... (Score:2)
Uh, the US never "owned" Taiwan and can not "give Taiwan" to anyone.
Recognition is not the same as owning. We recognize France. We do not claim to own France.
Re: Interesting..... (Score:2)
Borders and policy can change over 50 years. That's distinct from dishonesty.
Re: Interesting..... (Score:1)
Where lab?
No wonder you didn't read the recent cables.
You're a fucking illitrate!
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Including patient medical histories, phone numbers, and home addresses?
Are the companies that do research for COVID-19 not allowed to receive recognition for it?
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Nobody said that, you oblivious gnat.
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My problem isn't that companies are keeping all their research secret. In itself that would be their right, though I don't feel bad about them being hacked. The problem is that companies are taking huge amounts of government money to work on problems like this while keeping their research secret and selling the result. If we the public are paying for it, the terms should require open collaboration.
Re: Interesting..... (Score:2)
If you get a free vaccine shot then your money has given you exactly what you paid for. What more do you want?
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So the country that according to most nut jobs, created the virus in the lab, is now stealing research information on the very same virus?
It is entirely within the realm of reason that one could create a pathogen for which one does not have the antidote; they're mutually exclusive.
Trump will use this to max! (Score:2)
Now will the spies be traded away for our guys?
Re: Trump will use this to max! (Score:2)
Oh come on, it was funny.
Don't clutch your pearls.
Thanks capitalism (Score:1)
Im sure glad we arent freely sharing this information to solve the problem as quickly as possible by allowing anyone and everyone with the ability to contribute to do so..
Good stuff
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If you know anything about bio-research, you wouldn't be making such claims. They aren't always looking for a solution and sometimes what you find is not ready or too dangerous to just release, especially when you're talking a dangerous pathogen.
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Right, its for safety reasons not profit / IP reasons this is an issue....
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When your country starts paying into the research the US government funds, then you can have that discussion.
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No knowledge is dangerous.
Case in point, the research on how to safely replicate this exact type of virus as the first step for vaccine research, made in sweden 7yrs ago iirc, was censored by some united states anti-terrorism made-up claims. Go figure out how many labs are having to came up with their own hacky shortcuts today to get into the gold race now.
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If it's so easy to replicate, why don't they do it themselves or just buy it from the US labs. If it took them 7 years to throw together a hack solution, then perhaps they aren't all that good at their jobs.
Why should the US fund Sweden's research?
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Wow.
I'm a scientist (a physicist working in biotech). I disagree vehemently with this concept, and the way you're presenting it. You're being disingenuous characterizing synthetic virus production as "safe" and unethical in proposing that "no knowledge is dangerous." Knowledge by itself is not dangerous, but it is irresponsible and wrong to not consider how knowledge is used by humans. We have a responsibility in science to understand and anticipate how our work is used. WW1 should have taught us that. WW2
"Scientists Cloning the Coronavirus Like Crazy" (Score:2)
https://singularityhub.com/202... [singularityhub.com]
"In late February a team from the University of Bern, led by Dr. Volker Thiel, published a relatively simple recipe to artificially cook up SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in the lab. It required only two main ingredients: synthetic chunks of the virus's genomic instructions, which can be ordered online; and yeast. In experienced hands, the process isn't much harder than baking sourdough bread from a self-made starter.
The manuscript, initially uplo
Re: Thanks capitalism (Score:2)
You can tell the difference between a dangerous pathogen and *information* about a dangerous pathogen, right?
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Same way I can tell the difference between gunpowder and instructions on how to make a bomb.
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I'm going to guess the reason is "So some quack doesn't make what he thinks is a vaccine and ends up killing someone"?
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Amongst other reasons. Also, because the state pays for these research to happen, you don't want it to be stolen by everyone with less scrupulous safety records (eg. India and China) before it goes public.
India and China both have active spy and theft rings in the US, what they do is they'll wait for the research to be almost completed, steal it and even go as far as destroying records to throw shade at the US researcher, sometimes destroying their reputation, while developing and subsequently SELLING their
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Re: Thanks capitalism (Score:1)
No kt isn't. At all.
The pharma industry gets their meds from going to jungles or the like, and literally asking local "experts", like witch doctors, and then grazing those areas for things with, generally, "effects".
The capitalist part only comes into play, when they want to make it stronger, to make more profit. A pharma industry employee told me they literally just try things (like switch around part of the molecule) to see what it does. Which is how they turn opium into fentanly or krokodil. Basically wh
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God what a fucking retard. Yes, you figured it out. The entire trillion dollar medical industry is cribbing all their ideas from fucking witch doctors. You actually think that makes sense.
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You don't have any idea how drugs are discovered and made, do you? About 30 yrs ago it took about $1 Billion to get a drug to market, now it is no doubt much more. First they start with 100s of candidates, that gets winnowed down to a few 10s that might work. There are efficacy tests, toxicity tests, etc. All of which must be scrupulously documented (in the U.S. and Europe, that is). If they are lucky, they get one, maybe two candidates at the end of that pipeline.
Think you done yet? Nope, you must run some
Re: Thanks capitalism (Score:2)
Uhm, witch doctors? I can't tell if you're joking or being sarcastic or racist or stupid.
Did these witch doctors teach Watson and Crick about DNA? What year did a "witch doctor" tell a western scientist about CRISPR?
Wow.
Yay for Scientific Openness (Score:2)
Shouldn't countries be sharing their research? Perhaps it's better if other countries take the research data from countries that won't share.
What bullshit! What is there to hack? (Score:1)
Goddamn COVID research should be done completely transparently in the public domain anyway. We're supposed to cooperate for a vaccine, not compete.
Re:What bullshit! What is there to hack? (Score:4, Funny)
Yes ideally everyone will work for free. You wanna come over and clean my toilet?
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Nobody has to work for free. The work just has to be transparent. Please stop with the stupid distractions
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If you are a designer of vaccines or anything, if your work has to be transparent .. your investors know that someone else can take that design and use it for free. If designers can't get investors to pay for experiments and equipment, that greatly reduces the incentive to design.
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Oh yeah, and yet you haven't even a boilerplate halfway-credible response to it.
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There's nothing to respond to. I'm not trying to make an argument. Simple transparency is the demand for this medical necessity
Re: What bullshit! What is there to hack? (Score:3)
Who is paying the billions of dollars for the equipment, computers, and experiments?
You realize it takes several hundred million dollars to get a tiny Pharma company off the ground and billions more to actually make a single successful medication? Just one. If it even works. And if it fails all that money is a wash.
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Who is paying the billions of dollars for the equipment, computers, and experiments?
Tax payers and insurance companies (paid by your premiums). The insurance companies, along with the politicians rubber stamping their rules (which are written to smite tiny pharma), get nice junkets in return. The taxpayers see higher prices, whaddya gonna do? It's normal business, don't act all surprised.
Re: What bullshit! What is there to hack? (Score:3)
Ok so then why should people who aren't paying for those things get freebies?
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Why shouldn't they if they need it?
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Cleaning a toilet requires actual work. So does performing research towards finding a COVID vaccine. Both acts should result in payment. The question is: By whom?
If my tax dollars are going towards a COVID vaccine, and I'm positive that some are, the results of that research damn-well better be put in the public domain. I benefit from making it easy/cheap for you to be vaccinated, more than the cost of the vaccine. We both want everyone to be able to participate in a vaccination program.
Or do you think
Funny... having just come from a LifeOfBoris video (Score:3)
All I could think of was their meme of accusing people of being "western spies" in ye olde Stalin style.
In full-on cold war, are we again?
Damn, everything's a remake nowadays. Even the spy dramas.
Dear writers of this Chinese-US co-production: Come up with something new, would you?!?
And I don't mean another "monkey on a suit becomes president" comedy production. We've had three already!
Re: Funny... having just come from a LifeOfBoris v (Score:2, Offtopic)
FDR, Carter, Obama?
It's hard to think of anyone who has done more long term damage to the US than those 3.
FDR imprisoned hundreds of thousands of American citizens simply for being of Japanese descent.
Carter taught the world terrorism and hostage taking works.
Obama turned a nation that was headed away from its racist past into the heart of race based Hell.
I don't consider them monkeys. I do consider them varying between outright evil and deeply incompetent.
Did you have someone else in mind?
Re: Funny... having just come from a LifeOfBoris (Score:2)
Your facts and logic have overwhelmed me. There is no logical reply to your brilliant retort. I must surrender to your superior and vast intelligence.
*giggle*
Re: Funny... having just come from a LifeOfBoris (Score:1)
Well, outside of th US those are indeed accepted facts.
He of course still failed to make an actual argument.
Though I suspect that would have been pointless anyway. Religious people don't respont to logic, reason, or verifiable observation.
So it was written more for us than for you.
Re: Funny... having just come from a LifeOfBori (Score:2)
Outside the US? Lol, who gives a shit what aliens think from watching tv? No one. That's such an amazing bigoted and stupid thing to say. "I saw on TV that the US is racist and getting worse!" Smh.
I note you haven't had a thing to say about the 3 presidents and how shitty they were. No defense at all of their crimes.
Re: Funny... having just come from a LifeOfBoris (Score:2)
W. Bush, Obama, Trump.
Though you have a point, there were more than three. Nixon wasn't monkey-like to me though. More like an orangutan-gorilla mix. ;)
This sucks (Score:1)
worried they won't be able to charge high prices (Score:5, Insightful)
The only reason US researchers should care about anyone stealing their research is if they are afraid of getting undercut by lower prices, but should that really be an issue in this case?
If they are planning to charge $10,000 USD per dose or something most people won't be able to afford their vaccine anyway and will have to wait for another company to release their vaccine at a lower price.
One thing seems pretty certain. The people stealing the research are on our side: basically on the side of anyone who doesn't actually have stock in these companies.
Maybe only rich people will be able to afford these vaccines and the pandemic will continue for the other 90% of the population who cannot afford to spend a whole year's salary on a single dose that only grants protection for a few months probably. I could not even afford a $100 price.
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Related to Shutting Down Consulate? (Score:2)
Maybe it had something to do with this?
https://www.reuters.com/articl... [reuters.com]
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news... [msn.com]
The godz know there's been enough Chinese nationals and their minions stealing stuff for just about forever.
Retaliation eh? Gee, I wonder what they're going to do: start sending over Green Carders and students to steal stuff?
And....? (Score:1)