Reports revealed that a former malware convict, Yu
Pingan, has been spotted teaching computer skills to students in China. Yu
Pingan spent eighteen months at the federal detention center in San Diego. Upon
his release, it seems he has gone back to his previous job as a computer
teacher.
39 years old Yu is currently teaching in Chinese commercial
school in Shanghai. Currently, he is teaching computer courses, including a
course on internet security, to high-school students in China. He was convicted
in the U.S. two years ago after pleading guilty of committing hacking-related
fraud.
U.S. officials reported that Yu had been teaching in the school even before his arrest. According to officials who saw him, he was taking on two basic computer classes, including internet security .
When one of his students was contacted, he declined to
answer any questions about his former teacher, citing political reasons.
The hacking fraud was perpetrated against several top
companies, including gaming company Riot Games, defense and aerospace company
Pacific Energetic Materials, and microchip supplier Qualcomm Inc. However, the
judgment report did not disclose exactly the file or data that was stolen. It
remained a secret from the public.
Pacific Scientific, one of the victims of the attack,
refused to comment on the situation at that time. Another victim, Riot Games,
said the company did not lose any Data. Similarly, Qualcomm refused to answer
questions or inquiries about the situation.
According to court documents, Yu is a specialist in programming and network security. He used unusual malware for his hacked attempt. According to security experts, the malware (known as Sakula) is very rare and gives hackers remote access over computers. There was no word about how Yu got the said malware or who developed the malware.
The attack that got Yu convicted was not the only one he
has been linked with. Apart from the detailed case file against Yu, he was involved
in several other hacking attacks in the past ten years. One such case was the
stealing of vital information of millions of both past and present U.S.
government workers at the personnel management office. The other attack was at
the health insurer Anthem. Here, the records of millions of patients were
stolen.
However, authorities did not accuse Yu of any wrongdoing in
the two hacks. The U.S. authorities believe he is one of many Chinese nationals
who have stolen vital information of records of workers from U.S. government
establishment. But the U.S. authorities have not been able to prosecute any of
the suspects yet, apart from Sakula.
Many of the defendants of Chinese nationality have not been
apprehended yet in any of the hacking cases. Apart from the 18 months jail
term, the prosecutors urged Yul to pay the damage of $1.1 million to five of
the companies he hacked.
According to the order, he was supposed to pay the fine in
monthly installments of $100. As per schedule, the payment would extend to more
than 900 years before it was due to complete. According to the U.S,
prosecutors, Yu used the nickname “Goldsun” when he was perfecting the cyber
attack.
A San Diego criminal defense counsel, Jeremy Warren, who
represented Yu, said what he does for a living would not be enough to cover for
the monthly fine. According to the lawyer, as a school teacher and a Chinese
national, the expectations of meeting up with the fine requirement are very
slim.
As at the time Yu was convicted, the Chinese foreign affairs stated that it does not understand the connections in the case. However, the commission said the country strongly condemns any act of cyber attack . The government is always investigating and bringing perpetrators to justice. The foreign ministry reiterated that it doesn’t have any prior knowledge of any cyber attack by the Chinese citizen on U.S. soil.