Chinese National Indicted On Charges Of Hacking Defense Contractors

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Chinese national has been indicted by a federal grand jury on five felony offenses of computer hacking in a scheme involving the theft of trade secrets from American defense contractors, including Boeing.

Su Bin, whose aliases include Stephen Su, Stephen Subin and Steven Subin, was named in the indictment returned Thursday and filed in United States District Court.

According to the indictment, Su, a 49-year-old businessman, worked with two unindicted co-conspirators based in China to infiltrate computer systems and steal confidential information about military programs, including the C-17 transport aircraft, the F-22 fighter jet and the F-35 fighter jet.

Su is in custody in British Columbia, Canada, where heis being held on a provisional arrest warrant submitted by the United States. The indictment is not his first brush with the law; Su was previously charged in a criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles.

The charges Su faces carry a total maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison.