U.S. Charges 7 Chinese Nationals in Major 14-Year Cyber Espionage Operation

The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed indictments against seven individuals accused of operating as part of APT31 (aka Altaire/Bronze Vinewood/Judgement Panda/Violet Typhoon), a China-linked state-sponsored espionage group active since at least 2010. The group allegedly ran large-scale spear-phishing campaigns—sending over 10,000 emails with tracking links—used zero-day exploits and custom malware (RAWDOOR, Trochilus RAT, EvilOSX, DropDoor/DropCat) and cracked Cobalt Strike to maintain persistent access and steal sensitive government, corporate, and dissident data; the U.S. and U.K. have sanctioned associated individuals and a front company (Wuhan XRZ), and the U.S. has offered rewards for information.