Chinese man to serve U.S. prison term fr Military hacking

A Chinese businessman who pleaded guilty in
March to conspiring to hack into the computer
networks of Boeing and other major U.S. defense
contractors was sentenced on Wednesday to nearly
four years in prison, prosecutors said.

Su Bin, 51, was charged with taking part in a years-
long scheme by Chinese military officers to obtain
sensitive military information. In addition to the 46-
month prison term, a judge in U.S. District Court in
Los Angeles also ordered Su to pay a $10,000 fine.

“Su Bin’s sentence is a just punishment for his
admitted role in a conspiracy with hackers from the
People’s Liberation Army Air Force to illegally
access and steal sensitive U.S. military
information,” John Carlin, assistant attorney general
for national security, said in a statement.

“Su assisted the Chinese military hackers in their
efforts to illegally access and steal designs for
cutting-edge military aircraft that are indispensable
In an August 2014 indictment, prosecutors said Su
traveled to the United States at least 10 times
between 2008 and 2014 and worked with two
unidentified co-conspirators based in China to steal
the data.

The trio were accused of stealing plans relating to
the C-17 military transport plane and F-22 and F-35
fighter jets, and attempting to sell them to Chinese
companies.

According to prosecutors, in pleading guilty Su
admitted sending emails to his co-conspirators
telling them which persons, companies and
technologies to target with their hacking and
translating the stolen material from English to
Chinese.

Su admitted taking part in the crime for financial
gain, prosecutors said.
The Chinese government has repeatedly denied any
involvement in hacking.

Su was arrested in Canada in 2014 and ultimately
consented to U.S. extradition.

He pleaded guilty in March to one count of
conspiring to gain unauthorized access to a
protected computer and to violate the Arms Export
Control Act.