espionage

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espionage

Defense Department Employee Charged with Espionage

A Defense Department linguist, Mariam Thompson, was charged today by federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia with transmitting sensitive classified national defense information to a foreign national with apparent connections to Hezbollah. The affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint alleges that the information transmitted by Thomas included classified information regarding the true names of active human assets.

China

DOJ Charges American Citizen with Acting as an Illegal Agent of China

The Department of Justice unsealed a criminal complaint against Xuehua "Edward" Peng for acting as an illegal foreign agent. The complaint alleges that Peng handed over U.S. national security information to officials from China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). Extensive details of the FBI's counterintelligence investigation against Peng are also included in the complaint, which can be read here.

espionage

Document: Justice Department Charges Chinese Intelligence Officers and Recruits in Commercial Hacking Conspiracy

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice unsealed an indictment in the Southern District of California charging 10 defendants, including Chinese intelligence officers and their recruits, in two conspiracies to steal sensitive commercial aerospace information and technology from American companies in violation of provisions of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The full indictment is below.

China

Document: Chinese Intelligence Officer Indicted and Extradited to U.S. for Spying on Aviation Companies

The Justice Department has unsealed an indictment against Yanjun Xu, a Chinese intelligence officer, on four counts of conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and to steal trade secrets from U.S. aviation and aerospace companies. Xu was arrested in Belgium on April 1 and was extradited to the United States yesterday. According to the indictment, Xu targeted leading aviation companies inside and outside the United States, including GE Aviation.
Cybersecurity

2018 NSA Law Day Speech

Editor's Note: This post contains the text of a speech that Sen. Mark Warner (D.-Va.) delivered on Friday, June 8 at the National Security Agency’s 29th annual Law Day.

Good afternoon. Thank you, Glenn, for that generous introduction and thank you all for the warm welcome. I am delighted to be here and want to thank NSA for hosting Law Day.

espionage

Accused Spy Kevin Mallory Goes to Trial

On Wednesday morning, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Judge T.S. Ellis III presided over opening arguments in the espionage trial of former U.S. intelligence officer Kevin Mallory. Last summer, a grand jury returned an indictment against Mallory for turning over classified information to aid a foreign power in violation of the Espionage Act and lying to the FBI about it.

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