Engineer Gets 24 Years in China Spy Case

Jury convicts California man of trying to send defense docs to China

(NEWSER) - A Chinese-American engineer could get up to 35 years for trying to funnel classified U.S. defense technology to China. A federal jury in California convicted 66-year-old Chi Mak, a naturalized citizen who worked for an Anaheim defense contractor, of conspiring to send top secret plans for submarine propulsion technology to Chinese authorities over several years. More»

Project Hexagon collected crucial intelligence on Soviets and Chinese

(NEWSER) - An ultra-secret clan of scientists and engineers who toiled in a gigantic enclave in Danbury, Conn., can finally reveal its covert activities. Declassified in September, project Hexagon launched the most successful spy satellite network of the Cold War and collected crucial data for decades that helped undermine the Soviet Union, reports the AP . From 1971 to 1986, more than 1,000 people worked grueling hours, speaking in code and denying the project's existence even to family members. More»

(NEWSER) - It may sound like a B-grade espionage thriller, but foreign cyberspies have infiltrated the US electrical grid and stand ready to wreak havoc at the right moment, the Wall Street Journal reports. The foreign hackers—from China, Russia, and elsewhere—have left behind software programs that could theoretically allow them to bring mayhem to the grid. Security officials say, however, that they're not sure about the hackers' motives and don't see an immediate threat. More»

One of many highly skilled—and patient— agents for Beijing

(NEWSER) - Chi Mak, a Chinese-born engineer, lived quietly with his wife in the LA suburbs for more than two decades, slowly working his way up the ladder at a US defense contractor. Eventually, he gained a security clearance—and access to plans for Navy ships, submarines and weapons, which he secretly copied and sent to Beijing. Mak, it turns out, was one China's extraordinarily patient "sleeper" agents, writes the Washington Post. Last week a federal judge sentenced him to 24 1/2 years. More»

Spy chief warns businesses Beijing is infiltrating sites

(NEWSER) - UK spy agency MI5 has sent an unprecedented letter to 300 British business leaders, warning them that vital sectors of the country's economy are under attack from Chinese state-sponsored electronic espionage. The Chinese "use every means at their disposal" to dig up information about British companies, a letter recipient told the Times of London. More»