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Butler County's great daily newspaper

Westinghouse has been target of Chinese cyber-spying

WASHINGTON — Westinghouse Electric Co. in Cranberry Township is one of six companies that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Chinese military officials hacked into in the U.S. nuclear power, metals and solar products industries.

Holder said this morning the other companies are Alcoa World Alumina, Allegheny Technologies, U.S. Steel Corp., United Steelworkers Union, and SolarWorld.

The charges contained in a federal indictment are the first U.S. cyber-espionage charges against state actors. The hackers are accused of stealing trade secrets and economic espionage

The United States is bringing the first-of-its kind cyber-espionage charges against five Chinese military officials accused of hacking into U.S. companies to gain trade secrets. They are accused of stealing trade secrets and economic espionage.

The charges have been described as unprecedented and dramatize a long-time Obama administration goal to prosecute state-sponsored cyber threats.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the U.S. will not tolerate foreign government efforts to sabotage American companies.

U.S. officials have accused China’s army and China-based hackers of launching attacks on American industrial and military targets, often to steal secrets or intellectual property. China has said that it faces a major threat from hackers, and the country’s military is believed to be among the biggest targets of the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command.

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