Chinese visitor arrested in Los Angeles on hacking charge, using rare malware linked to thefts of US government data
US authorities on Thursday accused a Chinese national 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 of Shanghai was arrested on Monday at Los Angeles International Airport after a federal criminal complaint accused him of conspiring with others 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 Sakula, the same rare programme involved in US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hacks detected in 2014 and 2015. The filing did not mention the OPM hacks.
The arrest could provide information on the OPM hacks which US officials have blamed on the Chinese government.
In an FBI affidavit linked to the complaint, an FBI agent said he believed Yu provided versions of Sakula to two unnamed men that he knew would be used to carry out attacks on the firms.
“He says he has no involvement in this whatsoever,” Berg said, adding that Yu came to Los Angeles for a conference.