Anonymous ID: 195725 Dec. 26, 2019, 5:18 p.m. No.7628384   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>8429 >>8627 >>8884 >>9021

Malware broker behind U.S. hacks now teaching in China

 

LONDON/SHANGHAI (Reuters) — A Chinese malware broker who was sentenced in the United States this year for dealing in malicious software linked to major hacks is back at his old workplace: teaching high-school computer courses, including one on internet security.

 

Yu Pingan, who spent 18 months in a San Diego federal detention center, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer hacking. A high school instructor, he had been arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in August 2017 upon arriving with a group of teachers to observe a U.S. university. A Reuters reporter found him teaching at his old school here last month.

 

Yu was sentenced by a federal judge in February to time served and allowed to return to China. The victims of the hacking conspiracy included microchip supplier Qualcomm Inc., aerospace and defense firm Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Co., and gaming company Riot Games, according to the judgment. Exactly what was stolen in the computer breaches wasn’t disclosed in public court filings. Qualcomm declined to comment. A Riot Games spokesman said the company lost no data. Pacific Scientific didn’t respond to requests for comment.

 

Yu specializes in computer network security and programming, according to court records. The malware he provided in the conspiracy included a rare software tool called Sakula that granted hackers remote control over computers. It’s unclear who authored the malware or how Yu obtained it. Sakula has been linked to some of the most notorious cyber-attacks of the decade. In addition to the intrusions detailed in the case against Yu, these include hacks of U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc., where millions of patient records were exposed, and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in which the personal information of millions of current and former U.S. government employees and contractors was compromised. Yu wasn’t accused of involvement in those two breaches.

 

His prosecution was one of a series of criminal cases against Chinese nationals Washington has brought in recent years, in response to what the Americans say is a concerted campaign by China’s military and security ministry to steal technology from Western companies. In another case involving Sakula malware, the U.S. last year alleged that two Chinese intelligence officers and a team of recruited hackers repeatedly intruded into Western companies’ computer systems for more than five years.

 

Many of the Chinese defendants in the series of hacking cases haven’t been apprehended. Yu is one of the few alleged Chinese hackers to have been arrested and convicted in the U.S. crackdown. In addition to jail time, Yu was ordered to pay nearly $1.1 million in restitution to five companies that were victims of the hacking. The fine was to be paid in installments of $100 a month, with no interest, according to the judgment. The payment schedule would take more than 900 years to complete. Jeremy Warren, a San Diego criminal defense attorney who represented Yu, said: “With a Chinese national, a school teacher, there’s no real expectation of payment.” Yu’s 18 months in federal prison, he said, was no “walk in the park.”

 

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had “no understanding” of the Yu case. “We resolutely oppose any type of cyber-attack, and we investigate and crack down on any cyber-attack occurring inside China or making use of Chinese internet infrastructure,” the ministry spokesperson’s office said. The ministry added that it had no knowledge of other cases alleging Chinese hacking of U.S. companies, and it accused Washington of displaying a “cold war mentality” in its tech-related prosecutions.

 

Yu, according to court filings by U.S. prosecutors, went by the nickname “Goldsun.” He was accused of conspiring with other Chinese individuals to use malware to hack into the computer networks of companies in the U.S. and elsewhere. An affidavit from Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Adam James alleged that Yu provided Sakula and other malware used in the case. Citing seized communications between Yu and two unindicted co-conspirators, James alleged that Yu had installed “an unauthorized backdoor” on an unidentified company’s computer network to gain remote access.

 

The conspirators’ cyber intrusions included so-called “watering hole attacks,” in which malicious software infects the computers of visitors to compromised websites. “This is akin to a predator waiting to ambush prey at the location the prey goes to drink water,” a court document stated. Last month, Reuters found Yu, who is 39, teaching at Shanghai Commercial School, a state-run vocational technical high school in central Shanghai. U.S. officials told Reuters that Yu had been teaching there prior to his arrest.

 

https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0006254332?fp=5db946146cb714aaca68ee9d56489b28

Anonymous ID: 195725 Dec. 26, 2019, 5:58 p.m. No.7628668   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>8678 >>8788

Chewy, Inc. sold by Argos Holdings GP LLC: $177.42m-Dec 20th

 

Class B conversion to class A

 

Chewy was founded under the name "Mr. Chewy" in September 2011 by Ryan Cohen and Michael Day. The company hired former employees and executives from Amazon, PetSmart, Whole Foods Market, and Wayfair. In March 2012, the company estimated a total yearly revenue of $26 million, despite losing money in its first half year.

 

By 2016 it had received $236 million in venture capital financing over 5 rounds from Volition Capital,[8] Mark Vadon, T. Rowe Price, New Horizons Fund, BlackRock, Allen & Co, Verlinvest and Greenspring Associates. By 2017, the company had revenue of approximately $2 billion and 51% of online pet food and litter sales in the US. It spent heavily on customer acquisition and retention; in 2017 Forbes reported that its profitability was unclear, and quoted an unnamed competitor who that its customer acquisition costs might be as high as $200 per customer. Between 2017 and 2018, Chewy’s sales increased from $2.1 billion to $3.5 billion.

 

In February 2018, Chewy opened a new 100,000 square foot customer service center in Hollywood, Florida, which houses over 1,000 employees. Also in 2018, Chewy.com opened a new 802,671 sq. ft. distribution facility in Goodyear, Arizona. That year the company employed around 7000 people in the United States. Chewy received the Stevie Award for Favorite Customer Service in Retail in 2017 and 2018. As of 2019 the company was valued at $10.2 billion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewy_(company)

 

Argos Holdings GP LLC

Argo Group International Holdings Ltd. engages in underwriting property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. The company operates through following segments: Property, Liability, Professional and Specialty. The Property segment includes both property insurance and reinsurance products. The Liability segment includes a broad range of primary and excess casualty products. The Professional segment includes various professional lines products including errors and omissions, management liability and cyber coverages. The specialty segment includes niche insurance coverages including marine & energy, accident & health and surety product offerings. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/ARGO/profile

https://www.finviz.com/insidertrading.ashx?oc=1778154&tc=7&b=2

 

These are also listed as reporting people on both the filed Form 4's

Buddy Chester Corp.

Buddy Chester Sub Corp.

CIE Management IX Ltd

BC Partners Holdings Ltd

Argos Holdings Inc.

PETSMART INC

Petsmart Buddy Holdings Corp.

Citrus Intermediate Holdings L.P.

Argos Intermediate Holdco I Inc.

Argos Intermediate Holdco II Inc.

Argos Intermediate Holdco III Inc.

Buddy Holdings Corp.