- Chinese national charged in massive phishing campaign
- NASA, the military, universities and private companies were affected
- The perpetrator stole restricted defense software
NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released a report detailing an elaborate campaign to steal export-restricted software orchestrated by a Chinese national.
The campaign targeted engineers at NASA, the Air Force, the Navy, the Army, and the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as major universities and private companies.
Posing as a colleague or friend, the perpetrator managed to convince dozens of professors, researchers and engineers to share sensitive defense software and code for nearly five years.
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Federal warrant issued
The Chinese national, identified as Song Wu, was investigated by the Office of Investigations Cyber Crimes Division (CCD) after receiving an alert that emails were being received from a Gmail account claiming to be an aerospace professor who had collaborated with NASA.
Song Wu’s phishing campaign began in January 2017 and ended in December 2021, contacting employees at NASA, the Air Force, the Navy, the Army, the Federal Aviation Administration, and employees at several universities and private companies.
According to the CCD, Song Wu and unidentified co-conspirators would scrutinize their targets and then pose as a friend or colleague requesting access to copies or source code of modeling software used in aerospace design and weapons development.
Since the software was defense related, it was subject to export controls that were unwittingly violated when the victims fell for Song Wu’s deception.
A federal warrant has been issued for Song Wu’s arrest, and he has been charged with 14 counts of fraud and 14 counts of aggravated identity theft, but he remains at large, the NASA report said.
“Cases like this underscore the importance of complying with export controls and remaining vigilant, even during daily email exchanges,” said Ryan Pittman, Special Agent in Charge of CCD. “At NASA OIG, it’s our job to protect the agency’s cutting-edge technology and expose cybercriminals who try to steal it.”
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