1st LD-Writethru: China arrests 900 in online hacking crackdown

Chinese police have arrested more than 900 hackers in a campaign launched in July.

The suspects were involved in 400 cases and are accused of a wide range of cybercrimes including swindling money from individuals and banks, the Ministry of Public Security said on Thursday.

In one case from March, five suspects hacked into the email accounts of a Vietnamese company planning to purchase goods worth 75,000 U.S. dollars from a Chinese company, and gained pertinent trade information. The five used that information to pose as staff of the Chinese company and obtain the money for the deal from the Vietnamese, according to the ministry.

It said in a statement that the five include three foreigners but did not specify their nationalities.

In another case, a group of 31 suspects from China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) stole bank card information from ROK citizens via Trojan programs and phishing websites. Later the ROK suspects called the victims in the name of banking staff and transferred their deposits after luring them to remove the security settings, according to the statement.

The ministry said it has established 300 specialist facilities across the country to improve monitoring of cybercrime and evidence collection and will strengthen international law enforcement cooperation in this area.

It also warned party and government organs and companies to make sure their electronic information is secure. Endi