A Chinese businessman pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges of conspiring to steal sensitive military aircraft data from computers belonging to Boeing and other defence contractors, in the latest reminder of what the US has called a massive Chinese cyber espionage campaign.
Su Bin, 50, admitted to collaborating with two unindicted Chinese co-conspirators over a near six-year period that ended shortly before his 2014 arrest. Among the aircraft they targeted were Boeing’s C-17 military transport aircraft and Lockheed Martin’s F-35 and F-22 fighter jets.
“This plea sends a strong message that stealing from the United States and our companies has a significant cost,” said John Carlin, assistant attorney-general for national security. “We can and will find these criminals and bring them to justice.”