Two Chinese Hackers Charged In US Data Theft Case

A federal grand jury in the US has charged two members of "extremely sophisticated" hacking group operating from China in the 2014-2015 theft of the personal information of nearly 79 million customers of insurer Anthem, the biggest known health care hack in the country's history.

The Justice Department said the two also hacked three other US-based companies it did not name, one in the technology sector, the others in basic materials and communications.

The charges unsealed on Thursday alleges Fujie Wang, a 32-year-old who goes by the Western name "Dennis," and a man with three listed aliases identified as John Doe stole data including names, birthdates, Social Security numbers and medical IDs, first accessing Anthem's network in May 2014.

Their access was not terminated until January 2015 after they were detected, the document says.

Indianapolis-based Anthem, the nation's second-largest health insurer, agreed last October to pay the government a record US$16 million to settle potential privacy violations.

Alex Holden, founder and chief information security officer of the cybersecurity firm Hold Security, said there is no credible evidence any of the stolen data was ever put up for sale for use in identity theft. He said the Anthem data would be much more potent "on a state-sponsored level" for purposes of espionage than it would be in private hands.

The charge sheet did not say whether US authorities have evidence the hackers were working for the Chinese state. US officials blame state-backed Chinese hackers for rampant theft of Western intellectual property and trade secrets but did not lodge similar allegations in Thursday's court documents.

A Justice Department spokeswoman had no comment when asked how confident it is that Wang will be brought to the US for prosecution. The US does not have an extradition treaty with China.

The charge sheet says Wang lives in Shenzhen and that Doe's activities were China-based. (AP)