A Chinese national and an unnamed co-defendant were indicted on Thursday on computer hacking charges related to a campaign to breach large U.S. businesses, including the 2015 theft of data from health insurer Anthem Inc., the Justice Department said.
Fujie Wang, 32, and another individual were charged in a four-count indictment and are accused of working for what prosecutors described as “an extremely sophisticated hacking group operating in China.”
“The allegations in the indictment unsealed today outline the activities of a brazen China-based computer hacking group that committed one of the worst data breaches in history,” said U.S. assistant attorney general Brian Benczkowski in a statement.
Cybersecurity experts and U.S. officials have long suspected Chinese actors were responsible for the attack on Anthem ANTM, +0.53% , which pilfered data like social security numbers, addresses and employment information from nearly 80 million people. The indictment didn’t indicate a connection with the Chinese government.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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