FBI arrests Chinese man in US on hacking charges
Suspect accused of providing software for use in cyber attacks on American companies
The US authorities on Thursday accused a Chinese citizen visiting the United States of providing malware that has been linked to the theft of security clearance records of millions of American government employees.
Yu Pingan from Shanghai was arrested on Monday at Los Angeles International Airport after a federal criminal complaint accused him of conspiring with others of wielding malicious software known as Sakula, a Justice Department spokesman said on Thursday.
The complaint said the group attacked a series of unnamed US companies using the software.
It was the same rare programme involved in US Office of Personnel Management hacks detected in 2014 and 2015. The filing did not mention the personnel department hacks.
The arrest could provide information on the 2014 and 2015 attacks which US officials have blamed on the Chinese government.
An FBI agent said in an affidavit he believed Yu provided versions of Sakula to two unnamed men who he knew would be used to carry out attacks on the firms.