US justice department charges Chinese with hacking

The US has charged five Chinese army officers with hacking into private-sector American companies in a bid for competitive advantage, in the first cyber-espionage case of its kind.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the alleged breaches were "significant" and demanded "an aggressive response".

US prosecutors say the officers stole trade secrets and internal documents from five companies and a trade union.

The US and China have previously sparred over cyber attacks.

In Washington on Monday, Mr Holder said the hacking charges laid against the Chinese nationals were the first against "known state actors for infiltrating U.S. commercial targets by cyber means".

He identified the alleged victims as Westinghouse Electric, US Steel, Alcoa Inc, Allegheny Technologies, Solar World and the US Steelworkers Union.

"The alleged hacking appears to have been conducted for no reason other than to advantage state-owned companies and other interests in China, at the expense of businesses here in the United States," Mr Holder said.

Potentially more victims

In an indictment in the western district of Pennsylvania, the heart of the US steel industry, the US named Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu, and Gu Chunhui, all officers in Unit 61398 of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), as the alleged conspirators to hack US firms.

The indictment covers the years 2006-14. FBI officials said the hacking led to "significant losses" at the companies and that there were likely many more victims.

Mr Holder said economic espionage was a tactic the US government "categorically denounces".

"As President Obama has said on numerous occasions, we do not collect intelligence to provide a competitive advantage to US companies, or US commercial sectors," Mr Holder said.

John Carlin, head of the justice department's national security division, said, "for the first time we are exposing the faces and names behind the keyboards in Shanghai that... steal secrets from American companies."

In March, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the Pentagon planned to more than triple its cyber-security capabilities in the next few years to defend against such internet attacks.

Last year, cyber-defence company Mandiant published a report on a Chinese military unit the firm said was behind the vast majority of significant attacks on American federal agencies and companies.

US President Barack Obama has called cyber attacks a "real threat" to US security and its economy.

China has broadly denied the charges and says it faces similar attacks.