A Chinese national has entered a guilty plea in California for his involvement in a conspiracy to steal military technical information through intrusions into U.S. defense contractors’ computer networks and transmit the stolen data to China.The Justice Department said in a release posted Wednesday Su Bin, a China-based businessman in the aerospace and aviation sectors, admitted to stealing data related to the C-16 transport aircraft and other fighter planes.
Su Bin — also known as Stephen Subin and Stephen Su — filed his plea agreement with U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder for the Central District of California Wednesday.
According to the agreement, Su conspired with two China-based individuals between October 2008 and March 2014 to breach into the computer systems of Boeing and other contractors in order to access data in the U.S. Munitions List and sell the data for financial gain.
Su agreed to be transferred to the U.S. in February following his arrest in Canada in 2014.
“Cyber crime represents one of the most serious threats to our national security,†said U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker of the Central District of California.
“Today’s guilty plea and conviction demonstrate that these criminals can be held accountable no matter where they are located in the world and that we are deeply committed to protecting our sensitive data in order to keep our nation safe.â€
The cyber division within FBI’s Los Angeles field office continues to investigate the case in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force’s office of special investigations.
Snyder is scheduled to issue her ruling on Su’s case in July.
Su faces a five-year prison sentence and a fine of $250,000, according to DOJ.
