The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged five Chinese and two Malaysian men with hacking more than 100 companies.
The two Malaysian businessman “conspired” with two of the Chinese hackers to target the video games industry in particular, the DoJ said.
They would obtain in-game items and currencies by fraud, hacking or other means, and sell on the digital items for real money, it added.
Both Malaysian men have been arrested.
The five Chinese men were “fugitives” in China, the DoJ added. The US does not have an extradition treaty with China.
The other three Chinese hackers targeted software developers, computer makers, social media companies and others, the indictment said.
Game over
Two of the Chinese hackers – named as Zhang Haoran and Tan Dailin, both 35 – supplemented their attacks on technology firms with hacking video game companies.
It is alleged that the two Malaysian men – Wong Ong Hua, 46, and Ling Yang Ching, 32 – worked with the Chinese hackers to attack the video game firms in the US, France, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea.
“Several of the Chinese defendants compromised the networks of video game companies worldwide. That’s a billion-dollar industry. And defrauded them of game resources,” Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen told reporters.
“Two of the Chinese defendants stand accused with two of the Malaysian defendants of selling those resources on the black market through their illicit website.”
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