U.S. charges Chinese military hackers for Equifax breach

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM BARR, SAYING:

"I'm here to announce the indictment of Chinese military hackers, specifically four members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army for breaking into the computer systems of the credit reporting agency Equifax."

It was one of the biggest data breaches in U.S. history and U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Monday laid the blame on Chinese military hackers.

Nearly 150 million Americans had personal data including social security numbers, birth dates, and driver's license information stolen from Equifax computers in 2017.

According to the Department of Justice, the Chinese hackers spent weeks in Equifax's computer system scooping up personal and corporate data.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM BARR, SAYING:

"The scale of theft was staggering. As described in the indictment, the hackers broke into Equifax's network through a vulnerability in the company's dispute resolution system. Once in the network, the hacker spent weeks conducting reconnaissance, uploading malicious software and stealing log-in credentials all to set up the stage to steal vast amounts of data for Equifax's systems, while doing this the hackers also stole Equifax's trade secrets."

Hackers, according to the DOJ, routed traffic through approximately 34 servers in almost 20 countries in an attempt to cover their tracks.

The breach rocked the credit reporting industry...

leading to several heated Congressional hearings...

the ousting of Equifax's CEO...

a $700 million company settlement for claims it broke the law and harmed consumers...

and sleepless nights for consumers worried their data wasn't safe anywhere.

Monday's indictment is the latest step in an aggressive Washington campaign to root out Chinese espionage in the United States.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond for comment.