US Authorities Arrest Chinese Hacker

Category: Top Stories

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Unlocking Word Meanings

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

  1. national / ˈnæʃ ə nl / (n) – a citizen from a particular nation or country
    Example:

    My coworker at the bank is a Korean national.


  2. charge / tʃɑrdʒ / (n) – an accusation or belief that someone committed a crime
    Example:

    I filed charges against the thief.


  3. accuse / əˈkyuz / (v) – to blame someone for a crime
    Example:

    The store owner accused the man of stealing.


  4. malware / ˈmælˌwɛər / (n) – software that can damage a computer system
    Example:

    Some good programmers are guilty of creating and selling malware.


  5. on the rocks / ɒn ðə rɒks / (idiom) – having difficulties or about to fail
    Example:

    The two countries cancelled trade agreements because their relationship is on the rocks.


Article

Read the text below.

A Chinese national was arrested at the Los Angeles airport due to hacking charges.


The suspect was accused of having a rare malware used to hack into the database of different organizations. The authorities said that the suspect is only one of many hackers suspected to have used the malware.


According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Chinese national is a teacher who has expertise in computer network security and computer programming. The FBI believes that he was the one who provided the malware to the men who executed the hacking on some US companies.


The same malware has been linked to the cybercrime committed against the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2015. The OPM hacking is considered one of the worst cybercrimes committed against the country. Using the malware, the hackers were able to steal people’s financial, personal, and employment records. Millions of people were affected by the attack.


US officials suspected that the previous hacking was done by the Chinese government, but these suspicions have not been proven.


In addition to the OPM hacking, other hacking incidents have also put the relationship of the United States and China on the rocks.


In 2014, five officers from the Chinese military were accused of hacking and stealing information from US companies that deal with steel and solar and nuclear technologies. In addition, the United States also suspected hackers from China of hacking a US anti-missile defense system in South Korea. The defense system was established as a way to detect oncoming threats. However, the Chinese government released a statement saying that it does not support any hacker activities.


Viewpoint Discussion

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.

Discussion A

• What do you think hackers usually do with the information that they steal? Speculate.
• What agencies or businesses are most vulnerable to security breaches? Why do you think so?

Discussion B

• Do you think that hacking can be used for good? Why or why not?
• How do you think hackers were able to learn hacking?