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>Besides using spear phishing, watering holes, malware, and domain hijackings, prosecutors said, the defendants also recruited employees of some of the targeted

>Besides using spear phishing, watering holes, malware, and domain hijackings, prosecutors said, the defendants also recruited employees of some of the targeted companies to infect corporate networks and provide intelligence about investigations. This lines up with having a Chinese spy in California Senator Diane Feinstein's office: Being both a California Senator and a 'Gang of Eight' intelligence member, the Chinese could be alerted early on about potential investigations or indictments. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/Sen-Feinstein-had-a-Chinese-connection-she-13121441.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/Sen-... We've seen several indictments of Chinese nationals since this story broke. Edit: Actually the previous indictment I had in mind was the original arrest of the agent, this is just building on that case: http://www.atimes.com/article/chinese-agent-indicted-in-jet-engine-espionage-case/ http://www.atimes.com/article/chinese-agent-indicted-in-jet-...

learc83 8y ago
> This lines up with having a Chinese spy in California Senator Diane Feinstein's office That's not really an accurate description of what happened. Here's Feinstein's statement: "Five years ago the FBI informed me it had concerns that an administrative member of my California staff was potentially being sought out by the Chinese government to provide information. He was not a mole or a spy, but someone who a foreign intelligence service thought it could recruit. The FBI reviewed the matter, shared its concerns with me and the employee immediately left my office. He never had access to classified or sensitive information or legislative matters. The FBI never informed me of any compromise of national security information." Nothing in your article or any other reputable sources I've read conflict with that statement. From your article: '“He didn’t even know what was happening — that he was being recruited,” says our source. “He just thought it was some friend.” The FBI apparently concluded the driver hadn’t revealed anything of substance. “They interviewed him, and Dianne forced him to retire, and that was the end of it,” says our source.'
- mehrdadn 8y ago
  Confused, why is this downvoted? Is it wrong? Update: Funny, now the comment is upvoted and my question is downvoted :-)
  - learc83 8y ago
    The President, and some partisan media organizations were pushing a narrative that the mainstream media was covering up a conspiracy. I'm assuming the people down-voting believe the conspiracy theory. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/feinstein-chinese-spy/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/feinstein-chinese-spy/
    - qiqing 8y ago
      Why is a Snopes link being downvoted?
  - creaghpatr 8y ago
    Sort of, it's extremely misleading. It suggests that there is no evidence of espionage because charges were never pressed, but consider: >According to four former intelligence officials, in the 2000s, a staffer in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s San Francisco field office was reporting back to the MSS. While this person, who was a liaison to the local Chinese community, was fired, charges were never filed against him. (One former official reasoned this was because the staffer was providing political intelligence and not classified information—making prosecution far more difficult.) The suspected informant was “run” by officials based at China’s San Francisco Consulate, said another former intelligence official. The spy’s handler “probably got an award back in China” for his work, noted this former official, dryly. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/silicon-valley-spies-china-russia-219071 https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/silicon-v...
    - learc83 8y ago
      Here's the rest of what that article says about the topic. I'm not sure why it brings up the topic 2x in the same article. It looks like this paragraph is a revision of the first. "Former intelligence officials told me that Chinese intelligence once recruited a staff member at a California office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, and the source reported back to China about local politics. (A spokesperson for Feinstein said the office doesn’t comment on personnel matters or investigations, but noted that no Feinstein staffer in California has ever had a security clearance.)" None of that contradicts what your first article said, that the staffer didn't know he was being recruited. He was talking about local politics to someone who worked for the Chinese government who was pumping him for information. The rest is just speculation on the part of someone the reporter talked to about how he could have theoretically committed a crime despite not being prosecuted.
duxup 8y ago
A friend of mine is volunteering for someone's campaign. He said as soon as it was semi public that he was involved his personal email lit up with fake emails. His email wasn't even listed anywhere in association with the campaign and he didn't use it for the campaign. Presumably they just guessed it (could have done that easily) or they found a list or something. So just getting involved, now you're personally involved all the way.

learc83 8y ago

> This lines up with having a Chinese spy in California Senator Diane Feinstein's office That's not really an accurate description of what happened. Here's Feinstein's statement: "Five years ago the FBI informed me it had concerns that an administrative member of my California staff was potentially being sought out by the Chinese government to provide information. He was not a mole or a spy, but someone who a foreign intelligence service thought it could recruit. The FBI reviewed the matter, shared its concerns with me and the employee immediately left my office. He never had access to classified or sensitive information or legislative matters. The FBI never informed me of any compromise of national security information." Nothing in your article or any other reputable sources I've read conflict with that statement. From your article: '“He didn’t even know what was happening — that he was being recruited,” says our source. “He just thought it was some friend.” The FBI apparently concluded the driver hadn’t revealed anything of substance. “They interviewed him, and Dianne forced him to retire, and that was the end of it,” says our source.'

mehrdadn 8y ago
Confused, why is this downvoted? Is it wrong? Update: Funny, now the comment is upvoted and my question is downvoted :-)
- learc83 8y ago
  The President, and some partisan media organizations were pushing a narrative that the mainstream media was covering up a conspiracy. I'm assuming the people down-voting believe the conspiracy theory. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/feinstein-chinese-spy/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/feinstein-chinese-spy/
  - qiqing 8y ago
    Why is a Snopes link being downvoted?
- creaghpatr 8y ago
  Sort of, it's extremely misleading. It suggests that there is no evidence of espionage because charges were never pressed, but consider: >According to four former intelligence officials, in the 2000s, a staffer in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s San Francisco field office was reporting back to the MSS. While this person, who was a liaison to the local Chinese community, was fired, charges were never filed against him. (One former official reasoned this was because the staffer was providing political intelligence and not classified information—making prosecution far more difficult.) The suspected informant was “run” by officials based at China’s San Francisco Consulate, said another former intelligence official. The spy’s handler “probably got an award back in China” for his work, noted this former official, dryly. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/silicon-valley-spies-china-russia-219071 https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/silicon-v...
  - learc83 8y ago
    Here's the rest of what that article says about the topic. I'm not sure why it brings up the topic 2x in the same article. It looks like this paragraph is a revision of the first. "Former intelligence officials told me that Chinese intelligence once recruited a staff member at a California office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, and the source reported back to China about local politics. (A spokesperson for Feinstein said the office doesn’t comment on personnel matters or investigations, but noted that no Feinstein staffer in California has ever had a security clearance.)" None of that contradicts what your first article said, that the staffer didn't know he was being recruited. He was talking about local politics to someone who worked for the Chinese government who was pumping him for information. The rest is just speculation on the part of someone the reporter talked to about how he could have theoretically committed a crime despite not being prosecuted.

duxup 8y ago

A friend of mine is volunteering for someone's campaign. He said as soon as it was semi public that he was involved his personal email lit up with fake emails. His email wasn't even listed anywhere in association with the campaign and he didn't use it for the campaign. Presumably they just guessed it (could have done that easily) or they found a list or something. So just getting involved, now you're personally involved all the way.