updated 5:00 p.m. EDT, Thu July 16, 2009
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A former engineer for Rockwell International and Boeing was convicted Thursday of economic espionage and acting as an agent of China, authorities said.
A Delta IV rocket launches on March 10, 2003 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
A Delta IV rocket launches on March 10, 2003 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Dongfan "Greg" Chung, 73, was accused of stealing restricted technology and Boeing trade secrets, including information related to the space shuttle program and the Delta IV rocket.
U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney convicted him on charges of conspiracy to commit economic espionage; six counts of economic espionage to benefit a foreign country; one count of acting as an agent of the People's Republic of China; and one count of making false statements to the FBI, according to a statement from federal prosecutors.
Carney presided over Chung's three-week bench trial last month. In a bench trial, there is no jury and the judge decides whether to convict a defendant after hearing testimony. Chung was free on bond after his arrest by FBI agents and NASA investigators in February 2008. He was taken into custody after Carney's ruling was read.
Chung, a native of China who is a naturalized United States citizen, was employed by Rockwell International from 1973 until Boeing acquired its defense and space unit in 1996, and by Boeing thereafter. He retired from Boeing in 2002, but returned as a contractor, a position he held until September 2006, prosecutors said.
Chung held a "secret" security clearance, authorities said.
"For years, Mr. Chung stole critical trade secrets from Boeing relating to the space shuttle and the Delta IV rocket -- all for the benefit of the government of China," said David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security, in the prosecutors' statement. "Today's verdict should serve as a warning to others willing to compromise America's economic and national security to assist foreign governments."
The case against Chung resulted from an investigation into another engineer who obtained information for China. That engineer, Chi Mak, and several of his relatives were convicted of providing defense articles to the PRC, authorities said. Mak was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison last year.
According to evidence presented at trial, individuals in the Chinese aviation industry began sending tasks to Chung via letter as early as 1979, federal prosecutors said. Over the years, the letters directed Chung to collect data related to the space shuttle and various military and civilian aircraft. In his letters back to China, Chung referenced materials he had already sent, including 24 manuals relating to the B-1 bomber, which Rockwell had forbidden for distribution outside the company and federal agencies.
In addition, between 1985 and 2003, Chung traveled to China several times and met with government officials. His contacts in China discussed these trips in letters and recommended methods of passing information, authorities said.
In a 2006 search of Chung's home, FBI and NASA agents found more than 250,000 pages of documents from Boeing, Rockwell and other defense contractors in the house and in its crawl space, prosecutors said. They included "scores of binders containing decades' worth of stress analysis reports, test results and design information for the space shuttle."
Each economic espionage charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, authorities said. The charge of acting as an agent for a foreign government carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges of conspiracy to commit economic espionage and making false statements to federal investigators each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Chung is set for sentencing November 9.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Business spies on the rise
By KIMBERLEY VILLARI - The Independent
Last updated 07:00 10/07/2009
Industrial espionage is on the rise in New Zealand as companies look for ways to gain advantage over competitors in a tight economy, say employment fraud experts.
In a recent case, an overseas retailer planning to move into the New Zealand market was found to have placed a spy in a rival operation.
Paragon managing director Ron McQuilter, who investigated the case, says the spy worked in a senior role for the rival retailer for six months. He would not name the companies involved.
The staff member took the company's intellectual property, pricing structures, records and strategies.
''This guy had systematically taken everything from the company and set up almost a duplicate business. [The overseas retailer] would have come in with arguably an inferior product, but it would have looked the same and clients might or might not have known.''
In this instance the culprit was caught, but the police were not called in and the matter was quietly handled between the companies concerned. McQuilter says police are seldom contacted in cases of industrial espionage.
''Companies just deal with it. They might not want it to be known that they've had the problem in the first place.''
McQuilter says he has seen an increase in the number of requests to investigate potential espionage in the past six months.
''We used to do a couple a year; now we're doing probably one a month.''
And it's not just overseas competitors playing dirty. Local businesses are approaching aggrieved employees of their competitors to trade company secrets for cash or even revenge for perceived poor treatment, he says.
In one case he investigated recently, a competitor recruited a rival staff member to hand over the company's marketing plan.
While Paragon conducts yearly office ''debugging'' sweeps for some of its corporate clients, as technology has become more advanced it is increasingly difficult to detect surveillance devices.
Business spies are now using pens with built-in cameras and recording devices, and watches that transmit signals, as well as the more conventional portable hard-drives and USB drives to store information.
Once a business suspects it is being spied on, Paragon investigators will conduct surveillance on the person concerned, often using the same tactics in reverse.
Such surveillance doesn't come cheap, but the cost for not following up such activity can be high. McQuilter believes New Zealand businesses are too relaxed when it comes to monitoring security.
Slack processes and systems, and a careless attitude by management, are contributing to the problem.
Last updated 07:00 10/07/2009
Industrial espionage is on the rise in New Zealand as companies look for ways to gain advantage over competitors in a tight economy, say employment fraud experts.
In a recent case, an overseas retailer planning to move into the New Zealand market was found to have placed a spy in a rival operation.
Paragon managing director Ron McQuilter, who investigated the case, says the spy worked in a senior role for the rival retailer for six months. He would not name the companies involved.
The staff member took the company's intellectual property, pricing structures, records and strategies.
''This guy had systematically taken everything from the company and set up almost a duplicate business. [The overseas retailer] would have come in with arguably an inferior product, but it would have looked the same and clients might or might not have known.''
In this instance the culprit was caught, but the police were not called in and the matter was quietly handled between the companies concerned. McQuilter says police are seldom contacted in cases of industrial espionage.
''Companies just deal with it. They might not want it to be known that they've had the problem in the first place.''
McQuilter says he has seen an increase in the number of requests to investigate potential espionage in the past six months.
''We used to do a couple a year; now we're doing probably one a month.''
And it's not just overseas competitors playing dirty. Local businesses are approaching aggrieved employees of their competitors to trade company secrets for cash or even revenge for perceived poor treatment, he says.
In one case he investigated recently, a competitor recruited a rival staff member to hand over the company's marketing plan.
While Paragon conducts yearly office ''debugging'' sweeps for some of its corporate clients, as technology has become more advanced it is increasingly difficult to detect surveillance devices.
Business spies are now using pens with built-in cameras and recording devices, and watches that transmit signals, as well as the more conventional portable hard-drives and USB drives to store information.
Once a business suspects it is being spied on, Paragon investigators will conduct surveillance on the person concerned, often using the same tactics in reverse.
Such surveillance doesn't come cheap, but the cost for not following up such activity can be high. McQuilter believes New Zealand businesses are too relaxed when it comes to monitoring security.
Slack processes and systems, and a careless attitude by management, are contributing to the problem.
Coming soon: clothes that take photographs
Coming soon: clothes that take photographs
MIT boffins stitch together photo fabric
By James Sherwood • Get more from this author
10th July 2009 12:21 GMT
One day your clothes could take photographs, according to MIT scientists who have made a fabric that can capture images of a smiley face.
A team at MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering has developed an optical-fibre mesh that can detect an image projected onto it.
“This is the first time that anyone has demonstrated that a single plane of fibres, or fabric, can collect images just like a camera but without a lens," said Yoel Fink, an associate professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who led the research team.
Each fibre in the 100mm square fabric is less than 1mm in diameter and is formed from two concentric light-sensitive semiconductor cylinders separated and surrounded by insulating polymer layers. The semiconductors effectively measure the intensity of the light illuminating them and convert it to an electrical signal.
The signals from all the fibres are amplified and read by a computer. The fibres detect different wavelengths of light - colours, basically - and pass that information to the PC.
The MIT team placed the smiley face picture in front of the fabric and illuminated it with two wavelengths of light. Software on the PC read the signals from the fibres and used the information to reproduce on the screen what the fabric 'sees'.
What’s the future of this technology? Will we all be wearing 12Mp jackets able to snap pictures of people and places around us? Not quite, said Fink.
Such applications are still a long way from being realised he says. but his team’s work is a “significant” step in that direction. “The current version of these fabrics can only image nearby objects,” he said.
A major advantage of optical fibre webs lies in their distributed imaging capability, according to Fink. So if one area is damaged the other fibres can still function. ®
MIT boffins stitch together photo fabric
By James Sherwood • Get more from this author
10th July 2009 12:21 GMT
One day your clothes could take photographs, according to MIT scientists who have made a fabric that can capture images of a smiley face.
A team at MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering has developed an optical-fibre mesh that can detect an image projected onto it.
“This is the first time that anyone has demonstrated that a single plane of fibres, or fabric, can collect images just like a camera but without a lens," said Yoel Fink, an associate professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who led the research team.
Each fibre in the 100mm square fabric is less than 1mm in diameter and is formed from two concentric light-sensitive semiconductor cylinders separated and surrounded by insulating polymer layers. The semiconductors effectively measure the intensity of the light illuminating them and convert it to an electrical signal.
The signals from all the fibres are amplified and read by a computer. The fibres detect different wavelengths of light - colours, basically - and pass that information to the PC.
The MIT team placed the smiley face picture in front of the fabric and illuminated it with two wavelengths of light. Software on the PC read the signals from the fibres and used the information to reproduce on the screen what the fabric 'sees'.
What’s the future of this technology? Will we all be wearing 12Mp jackets able to snap pictures of people and places around us? Not quite, said Fink.
Such applications are still a long way from being realised he says. but his team’s work is a “significant” step in that direction. “The current version of these fabrics can only image nearby objects,” he said.
A major advantage of optical fibre webs lies in their distributed imaging capability, according to Fink. So if one area is damaged the other fibres can still function. ®
Warrantless Wiretaps: Were They Valuable?
Warrantless Wiretaps: Were They Valuable?
Bush and Cheney thought so, but some Justice Department officials said they were illegal.
By Peter Grier | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the July 11, 2009 edition
Washington - The warrantless wiretapping program approved by the Bush administration filled gaps in US intelligence-gathering ability. But many government officials considered it just one tool among many, and believed that traditional espionage methods produced more useful intelligence information.
That is one of the conclusions from a just-released US government report on President Bush's controversial domestic surveillance efforts.
According to CIA officials, much of the intelligence reporting derived from this effort "was vague or without context, which led analysts and targeting officers to rely more heavily on other information sources and analytic tools," according to the report, which was prepared by the Inspectors General from five US government departments.
This conclusion undercuts some of the claims made by top administration officials in support of the program.
For instance, Vice President Dick Cheney at one point warned a Department of Justice official who was reluctant to approve the program's legality that "thousands of lives" were at stake if the eavesdropping efforts did not continue.
The report is the result of hundreds of interviews conducted by the Inspectors General of the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Among other things, it adds more detail to the well-known struggle that occurred in 2004 between some Department of Justice officials, who felt that portions of the programs as authorized did not pass legal muster, and the White House, which pressed hard for Justice officials to continue to approve the program's operation.
According to the report, the officials who balked – including Deputy Attorney General James Comey, among others – felt that existing legal analysis of the program described its operations incorrectly.
Perhaps more importantly, that analysis also said that laws governing federal wiretap efforts did not take into account the need for quick action in the event of war, when they clearly did, Deputy Attorney General Comey felt.
Comey told investigators that he felt "the legal analysis entailed ignoring an act of Congress, and doing so without full congressional notification".
Comey threatened to resign over the issue. He withdrew that threat after President Bush gave his support to changing the wiretap effort.
The report also notes that at the time he launched the warrantless wiretap effort, President Bush authorized other secret surveillance activities that have yet to be made public. All these efforts together are named the "President's Surveillance Program", according to the report.
Bush and Cheney thought so, but some Justice Department officials said they were illegal.
By Peter Grier | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the July 11, 2009 edition
Washington - The warrantless wiretapping program approved by the Bush administration filled gaps in US intelligence-gathering ability. But many government officials considered it just one tool among many, and believed that traditional espionage methods produced more useful intelligence information.
That is one of the conclusions from a just-released US government report on President Bush's controversial domestic surveillance efforts.
According to CIA officials, much of the intelligence reporting derived from this effort "was vague or without context, which led analysts and targeting officers to rely more heavily on other information sources and analytic tools," according to the report, which was prepared by the Inspectors General from five US government departments.
This conclusion undercuts some of the claims made by top administration officials in support of the program.
For instance, Vice President Dick Cheney at one point warned a Department of Justice official who was reluctant to approve the program's legality that "thousands of lives" were at stake if the eavesdropping efforts did not continue.
The report is the result of hundreds of interviews conducted by the Inspectors General of the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Among other things, it adds more detail to the well-known struggle that occurred in 2004 between some Department of Justice officials, who felt that portions of the programs as authorized did not pass legal muster, and the White House, which pressed hard for Justice officials to continue to approve the program's operation.
According to the report, the officials who balked – including Deputy Attorney General James Comey, among others – felt that existing legal analysis of the program described its operations incorrectly.
Perhaps more importantly, that analysis also said that laws governing federal wiretap efforts did not take into account the need for quick action in the event of war, when they clearly did, Deputy Attorney General Comey felt.
Comey told investigators that he felt "the legal analysis entailed ignoring an act of Congress, and doing so without full congressional notification".
Comey threatened to resign over the issue. He withdrew that threat after President Bush gave his support to changing the wiretap effort.
The report also notes that at the time he launched the warrantless wiretap effort, President Bush authorized other secret surveillance activities that have yet to be made public. All these efforts together are named the "President's Surveillance Program", according to the report.
France to Iran: We would send seasoned spies
France to Iran: We would send seasoned spies
Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:57:09 GMT
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner hits back at charges that Paris has sent a 23-year-old lecturer as an undercover agent to Iran.
French student Clotilde Reiss was detained in Iran following the recent post-election riots in the country's capital Tehran. Iranian officials say the lecturer from the Isfahan Technical University in central Iran had taken part in the protests.
She had also sent an email to a friend in Tehran that contained information on the rallies.
During his visit to Lebanon, Kouchner said the charge brought against the French national "doesn't hold up".
"Do you think my country would be so naive and shorthanded as to send a 23-year-old woman to spy in Iran? That's stupid, it's not possible," he told reporters during a visit to Lebanon.
The French national's arrest came after Iran turned into a scene of opposition rallies in protest at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad having been announced as the official winner of the 10th presidential election with nearly two-thirds of the vote.
Iran blames foreign powers, namely Britain, over the unrest, saying they interfered in its internal affairs and played a significant role in provoking the post-election violence, which claimed the lives of at least 20 people.
MT/AA
Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:57:09 GMT
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner hits back at charges that Paris has sent a 23-year-old lecturer as an undercover agent to Iran.
French student Clotilde Reiss was detained in Iran following the recent post-election riots in the country's capital Tehran. Iranian officials say the lecturer from the Isfahan Technical University in central Iran had taken part in the protests.
She had also sent an email to a friend in Tehran that contained information on the rallies.
During his visit to Lebanon, Kouchner said the charge brought against the French national "doesn't hold up".
"Do you think my country would be so naive and shorthanded as to send a 23-year-old woman to spy in Iran? That's stupid, it's not possible," he told reporters during a visit to Lebanon.
The French national's arrest came after Iran turned into a scene of opposition rallies in protest at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad having been announced as the official winner of the 10th presidential election with nearly two-thirds of the vote.
Iran blames foreign powers, namely Britain, over the unrest, saying they interfered in its internal affairs and played a significant role in provoking the post-election violence, which claimed the lives of at least 20 people.
MT/AA
Cheney kept CIA program from Congress, source says
updated 2:13 a.m. EDT, Sun July 12, 2009
From Pam Benson
CNN National Security Producer
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The CIA withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress during the Bush administration on direct orders from then-Vice President Dick Cheney, current CIA director Leon Panetta told members of Congress, a knowledgeable source confirmed to CNN.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly ordered the CIA to withhold information about counterterrorism.
The disclosure to the House and Senate intelligence committees about Cheney's involvement by Panetta was first reported in the New York Times. Efforts to contact Cheney for reaction were unsuccessful late Saturday.
The source who spoke to CNN did not want to be identified by name because the matter is classified, and CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano declined comment on the report.
"It's not agency practice to discuss what may or may not have been said in a classified briefing," Gimigliano said. "When a CIA unit brought this matter to Director Panetta's attention, it was with the recommendation that it be shared with Congress. That was also his view, and he took swift, decisive action to put it into effect."
The fact that Panetta recently briefed lawmakers on an unspecified counterterrorism program was first revealed Wednesday, when a letter from seven House Democrats to Panetta was made public. The June 26 letter characterizes Panetta as testifying that the CIA "concealed significant actions from all members of Congress, and misled members for a number of years from 2001 to this week."
The letter contained no details about what information the CIA officials allegedly concealed or how they purportedly misled members of Congress.
A knowledgeable source familiar with the matter said the counterterrorism program in question was initiated shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
The program was on-again, off-again and was never fully operational, but was rather, a tool put on the shelf that could have been used, the source said. Panetta has put an end to the program, according to the source.
The disclosures follow a May spat between the spy agency and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who accused the CIA of misleading Congress during a secret 2002 briefing on harsh interrogation techniques being used on terrorism suspects. The CIA responded that Pelosi was told about the harsh techniques, including waterboarding, at the briefing.
However, the June 26 letter from the seven House Democrats noted that Panetta told CIA employees in a May 15 letter -- a response to the Pelosi allegation -- that it was not CIA policy to mislead Congress. The letter from the House Democrats asked Panetta to correct his May 15 statement "in light of your testimony."
Asked about the Democrats' letter, CIA spokesman George Little said Panetta "stands by his May 15 statement."
"This agency and this director believe it is vital to keep the Congress fully and currently informed. Director Panetta's actions back that up," Little said in a statement. "As the letter from these ... representatives notes, it was the CIA itself that took the initiative to notify the oversight committees."
The latest revelations come as lawmakers consider expanding the number of House and Senate members privy to the kind of secret briefing that Pelosi received.
The White House opposes a measure that would increase the number of briefing participants from the current eight to 40 members of Congress. A White House memo warned President Obama's senior advisers would recommend a veto of the bill if it contained the expanded briefing provision.
From Pam Benson
CNN National Security Producer
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The CIA withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress during the Bush administration on direct orders from then-Vice President Dick Cheney, current CIA director Leon Panetta told members of Congress, a knowledgeable source confirmed to CNN.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly ordered the CIA to withhold information about counterterrorism.
The disclosure to the House and Senate intelligence committees about Cheney's involvement by Panetta was first reported in the New York Times. Efforts to contact Cheney for reaction were unsuccessful late Saturday.
The source who spoke to CNN did not want to be identified by name because the matter is classified, and CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano declined comment on the report.
"It's not agency practice to discuss what may or may not have been said in a classified briefing," Gimigliano said. "When a CIA unit brought this matter to Director Panetta's attention, it was with the recommendation that it be shared with Congress. That was also his view, and he took swift, decisive action to put it into effect."
The fact that Panetta recently briefed lawmakers on an unspecified counterterrorism program was first revealed Wednesday, when a letter from seven House Democrats to Panetta was made public. The June 26 letter characterizes Panetta as testifying that the CIA "concealed significant actions from all members of Congress, and misled members for a number of years from 2001 to this week."
The letter contained no details about what information the CIA officials allegedly concealed or how they purportedly misled members of Congress.
A knowledgeable source familiar with the matter said the counterterrorism program in question was initiated shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
The program was on-again, off-again and was never fully operational, but was rather, a tool put on the shelf that could have been used, the source said. Panetta has put an end to the program, according to the source.
The disclosures follow a May spat between the spy agency and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who accused the CIA of misleading Congress during a secret 2002 briefing on harsh interrogation techniques being used on terrorism suspects. The CIA responded that Pelosi was told about the harsh techniques, including waterboarding, at the briefing.
However, the June 26 letter from the seven House Democrats noted that Panetta told CIA employees in a May 15 letter -- a response to the Pelosi allegation -- that it was not CIA policy to mislead Congress. The letter from the House Democrats asked Panetta to correct his May 15 statement "in light of your testimony."
Asked about the Democrats' letter, CIA spokesman George Little said Panetta "stands by his May 15 statement."
"This agency and this director believe it is vital to keep the Congress fully and currently informed. Director Panetta's actions back that up," Little said in a statement. "As the letter from these ... representatives notes, it was the CIA itself that took the initiative to notify the oversight committees."
The latest revelations come as lawmakers consider expanding the number of House and Senate members privy to the kind of secret briefing that Pelosi received.
The White House opposes a measure that would increase the number of briefing participants from the current eight to 40 members of Congress. A White House memo warned President Obama's senior advisers would recommend a veto of the bill if it contained the expanded briefing provision.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Teachers are lured into espionage
Teachers are lured into espionage
Jun 12, 2009
Teachers are more used to coaxing information out of five-year-olds than terror suspects, but it seems MI5 believe their skills are suitable for the world of espionage.
The security agency is hoping to attract school staff in its latest recruitment drive.
It has placed an advert in the teachers' trade newspaper, the Times Educational Supplement, saying that their people skills make them ideal for the job.
The advert, for operational intelligence officers, says: "Your experience of dealing with people means you can build trust and relationships with all sorts of individuals, which makes you the ideal candidate for developing a career securing the information we need to protect national security."
According to MI5's website, the agency aims to "frustrate terrorism", and prevent foreign espionage and weapons of mass destruction.
The post carries a salary of £35,425, plus benefits - broadly similar to that of a secondary school teacher who has been in the job for some time.
Teachers who successfully pass the recruitment process will find themselves taken out of the classroom and into "the heart of intelligence gathering".
According to the job description, successful candidates will be responsible for building contacts with people who can "provide information of relevance to national security". They will also have to write reports and give briefings.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "There are a wide range of career opportunities available with MI5.
"The organisation advertises in a range of media, including local, regional and national newspapers, trade publications and online media, in order to attract a diverse range of candidates who may have the right skills and experience."
Copyright © 2009 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
Jun 12, 2009
Teachers are more used to coaxing information out of five-year-olds than terror suspects, but it seems MI5 believe their skills are suitable for the world of espionage.
The security agency is hoping to attract school staff in its latest recruitment drive.
It has placed an advert in the teachers' trade newspaper, the Times Educational Supplement, saying that their people skills make them ideal for the job.
The advert, for operational intelligence officers, says: "Your experience of dealing with people means you can build trust and relationships with all sorts of individuals, which makes you the ideal candidate for developing a career securing the information we need to protect national security."
According to MI5's website, the agency aims to "frustrate terrorism", and prevent foreign espionage and weapons of mass destruction.
The post carries a salary of £35,425, plus benefits - broadly similar to that of a secondary school teacher who has been in the job for some time.
Teachers who successfully pass the recruitment process will find themselves taken out of the classroom and into "the heart of intelligence gathering".
According to the job description, successful candidates will be responsible for building contacts with people who can "provide information of relevance to national security". They will also have to write reports and give briefings.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "There are a wide range of career opportunities available with MI5.
"The organisation advertises in a range of media, including local, regional and national newspapers, trade publications and online media, in order to attract a diverse range of candidates who may have the right skills and experience."
Copyright © 2009 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
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