ABC News Report: Chinese Hacking US Banks, Power Grid
A new reports is lifting the veil on a kind of invisible war. China, unleashing its full spy power on American power grids and the wealth of American manufacturing. A new report even locates this building in Shanghai.
It doesn’t look threatening, but what are they doing inside? And what does it mean for America’s national security? Here’s ABC’s Brian Ross.
Reporter: The Chinese people’s liberation army is the biggest military force in the world, with more than 2 million soldiers. But it is the thousand or so in this nondescript building in shanghai that may pose the biggest threat to the U. S.
This is the headquarters of the army’s secretive unit number 61398, where, according to the new report today by the Mandiant security firm, English-speaking computer experts spend their days stealing secrets from U.S. Companies and hacking into government sites.
This is an espionage operation run by the Chinese people’s liberation army targeting a broad swath of western organizations. Reporter: Among the most troubling targets, American infrastructure sites, including water treatment plants, transportation control centers, pipelines and power grids.
It’s costing, according to U.S. Intelligence, hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of U.S. jobs every year. Reporter: Among the many corporate espionage targets of the Chinese army hackers, according to U.S. Officials, is Lockheed Martin, the country’s largest defense contractor, and the maker of the f-35 jet fighter. U.S. Officials say, not surprisingly, the Chinese version of the plane has some distinct similarities.
