The U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday that they had formally indicted two Chinese hackers for their alleged involvement in stealing millions of records from health insurance company Anthem in 2015.
Fuje Wang and another hacker named John Doe referred with three different aliases (Deniel Jack, Kim Young, and Zhou Zhihong) are charged with four counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, wire fraud, and computer hacking.
Confidential information such as names, date of birth, social security numbers, and medical information was stolen in the breach.
In addition to the Anthem data breach, the hackers are also accused of breaching three other U.S. companies – a company in the technology business, a company in the materials industry, and a communications company — though the indictment does not disclose their names.
The indictment refers to the hackers having deployed sophisticated techniques to compromise computer networks of businesses without permission — such techniques revolved around spearphishing and malware usage.
“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,” the Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski says.
The data breach is said to have affected 78.8 million customers using Anthem.
The investigators for the case were from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). “This case is significant not only because it showcases the FBI’s cyber investigative capabilities, but also because it highlights the importance of FBI and private industry relationships,” Assistant Director Matt Gorham says.
Wang is presently wanted by the FBI.
