Posted on December 25, 2019 at 5:44 PM
Former Malware Hacker, Yul Pingan, Found Teaching Computer Skills in Shanghai
Reports revealed that a former malware convict, Yu Pingan, has been spotted teaching computer skills to students in China. Yu Pingan spent eighteen months at the federal detention center in San Diego. Upon his release, it seems he has gone back to his previous job as a computer teacher.
39 years old Yu is currently teaching in Chinese commercial school in Shanghai. Currently, he is teaching computer courses, including a course on internet security, to high-school students in China. He was convicted in the U.S. two years ago after pleading guilty of committing hacking-related fraud.
U.S. officials reported that Yu had been teaching in the school even before his arrest. According to officials who saw him, he was taking on two basic computer classes, including internet security.
When one of his students was contacted, he declined to answer any questions about his former teacher, citing political reasons.
Details of the fraud were kept secret
The hacking fraud was perpetrated against several top companies, including gaming company Riot Games, defense and aerospace company Pacific Energetic Materials, and microchip supplier Qualcomm Inc. However, the judgment report did not disclose exactly the file or data that was stolen. It remained a secret from the public.
Pacific Scientific, one of the victims of the attack, refused to comment on the situation at that time. Another victim, Riot Games, said the company did not lose any Data. Similarly, Qualcomm refused to answer questions or inquiries about the situation.
According to court documents, Yu is a specialist in programming and network security. He used unusual malware for his hacked attempt. According to security experts, the malware (known as Sakula) is very rare and gives hackers remote access over computers. There was no word about how Yu got the said malware or who developed the malware.
Most gruesome cyberattacks linked to Sakula
The attack that got Yu convicted was not the only one he has been linked with. Apart from the detailed case file against Yu, he was involved in several other hacking attacks in the past ten years. One such case was the stealing of vital information of millions of both past and present U.S. government workers at the personnel management office. The other attack was at the health insurer Anthem. Here, the records of millions of patients were stolen.
However, authorities did not accuse Yu of any wrongdoing in the two hacks. The U.S. authorities believe he is one of many Chinese nationals who have stolen vital information of records of workers from U.S. government establishment. But the U.S. authorities have not been able to prosecute any of the suspects yet, apart from Sakula.
Yul also fined $1.1 million
Many of the defendants of Chinese nationality have not been apprehended yet in any of the hacking cases. Apart from the 18 months jail term, the prosecutors urged Yul to pay the damage of $1.1 million to five of the companies he hacked.
According to the order, he was supposed to pay the fine in monthly installments of $100. As per schedule, the payment would extend to more than 900 years before it was due to complete. According to the U.S, prosecutors, Yu used the nickname “Goldsun” when he was perfecting the cyber attack.
A San Diego criminal defense counsel, Jeremy Warren, who represented Yu, said what he does for a living would not be enough to cover for the monthly fine. According to the lawyer, as a school teacher and a Chinese national, the expectations of meeting up with the fine requirement are very slim.
As at the time Yu was convicted, the Chinese foreign affairs stated that it does not understand the connections in the case. However, the commission said the country strongly condemns any act of cyber attack. The government is always investigating and bringing perpetrators to justice. The foreign ministry reiterated that it doesn’t have any prior knowledge of any cyber attack by the Chinese citizen on U.S. soil.
