Song Wu, a Chinese national, has been indicted on charges for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft arising from his efforts to fraudulently obtain computer software and source code created by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, research universities, and private companies.
“Efforts to obtain our nation’s valuable research software pose a grave threat to our national security,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “However, this indictment demonstrates that borders are not barriers to prosecuting bad actors who threaten our national security.”
“Once again, the FBI and our partners have demonstrated that cyber criminals around the world who are seeking to steal our companies’ most sensitive and valuable information can and will be exposed and held accountable,” said Keri Farley, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta. “As this indictment shows, the FBI is committed to pursuing the arrest and prosecution of anyone who engages in illegal and deceptive practices to steal protected information.”
According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the indictment, and other information presented in court, Song allegedly engaged in a multi-year “spear phishing” email campaign in which he created email accounts to impersonate U.S.-based researchers and engineers and then used those imposter accounts to obtain specialised restricted or proprietary software used for aerospace engineering and computational fluid dynamics.
This specialised software could be used for industrial and military applications, such as developing advanced tactical missiles and aerodynamic design and assessing weapons.
In executing the scheme, Song allegedly sent spear-phishing emails to individuals employed in positions with the United States government, including NASA, the U.S. Air Force, the Navy and Army, and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Song also sent spear-phishing emails to individuals in positions with major research universities in Georgia, Michigan, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio and private sector companies working in the aerospace field.
Song’s spear phishing emails appeared to the targeted victims as having been sent by a colleague, associate, friend, or other person in the research or engineering community. His emails requested that the targeted victim send or make available source code or software to which Song believed the targeted victim had access.
According to the indictment, while conducting this spear phishing campaign, Song was employed as an engineer at the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, a Chinese state-owned aerospace and defence conglomerate headquartered in Beijing, China. AVIC manufactures civilian and military aircraft and is one of the largest defence contractors in the world.
Song Wu, 39, of China, is charged with 14 counts of wire fraud and 14 counts of aggravated identity theft. Song faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud. Song faces a mandatory, two-year consecutive sentence in prison if convicted of aggravated identity theft.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
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