Chinese man behind US hacks back to teaching computing in Shanghai
- Yu Pingan, who spent 18 months in a San Diego detention centre, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer hacking
- The 39-year-old is now teaching computer courses at Shanghai Commercial School, a state-run vocational technical high school
A Chinese malware broker who was sentenced in the United States this year for dealing in malicious software linked to major hacks is back at his old workplace: teaching high-school computer courses, including one on internet security.
Yu Pingan, who spent 18 months in a federal detention centre in San Diego, California, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer hacking. A high school instructor, he had been arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in August 2017 upon arriving with a group of teachers to observe a US university. A Reuters reporter found him teaching at his old school in Shanghai last month.
Yu, 39, was sentenced by a federal judge in February to time served and allowed to return to China. The victims of the hacking conspiracy included microchip supplier Qualcomm Inc, aerospace and defence firm Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Co, and gaming company Riot Games, according to the judgment. Exactly what was stolen in the computer breaches was not disclosed in public court filings.
Qualcomm declined to comment. A Riot Games spokesman said the company lost no data. Pacific Scientific did not respond to requests for comment.
Yu specialises in computer network security and programming, according to court records. The malware he provided in the conspiracy included a rare software tool called Sakula that granted hackers remote control over computers. It’s unclear who wrote the malware or how Yu obtained it.