Telco engineer who spied on US employer for Beijing gets four years in the clink

A 59-year-old U.S. telecom engineer, Ping Li, was sentenced to 48 months in prison and fined $250,000 for acting as a cooperative contact for China’s Ministry of State Security since 2012, sharing employer cybersecurity details, training materials, and information on hacking events while using anonymous email and meeting contacts in China. The report identifies his employers as Verizon and Infosys, and situates the case within escalating U.S. concerns about PRC-linked espionage, including activity by the group labeled “Salt Typhoon” targeting major U.S. telecoms.