“Without compromising the integrity of any ongoing legal process, suffice it to say that the company has never engaged in any illegal activity as we are an indigenous Malaysian company with hundreds of employees and millions of customers around the world.”
The company assured customers it could take “significant steps to administer claims.”
The Justice Department charged Wong, 46, and Ling, 32, with 23 counts of racketeering, conspiracy, identity theft, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, money laundering, and violating the CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act). ) and false registration of domains.
Wong is the founder and chief executive of SEA Gamer Mall, based in Sitiawan, Perak, while Ling is listed as partner and chief product officer, in response to the corporate’s website.
“First, the primary purpose of the APT-41 computer intrusion was that the Chinese defendants targeted over 100 victims around the world in a variety of industries and sectors that unfortunately are on the standard target list of Chinese hackers,” said the U.S. Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A Rosen in an announcement.
“These crimes were amplified by a sophisticated technique called a ‘supply chain attack,’ in which Chinese hackers breached software vendors around the world and modified the vendors’ code to install backdoors, which enabled further intrusions against software vendors’ ‘clients,’” he said.
“Second, as an additional method of making money, several of the Chinese defendants hacked into the networks of video game companies around the world (a billion-dollar industry) and defrauded them of their in-game assets,” the statement said. “The two Chinese defendants, like the two Malaysian defendants, are accused of selling these resources on the black market through an illegal website.”
China-backed hackers attacked EU officials: US cybersecurity company
China-backed hackers attacked EU officials: US cybersecurity company
It is unclear at this point what the in-game resources are, as they might be in-game currency used to buy virtual goods similar to clothing and even art resources from the video game.
Analyst firm Newzoo reported that Malaysia’s 20.1 million gamers spent $673 million on games in 2019, making the country one in all the biggest gaming markets in Southeast Asia. Most players spent money on in-game items or virtual goods, with essentially the most common ones being upgrades or additional skills for the in-game avatar.
Malaysian YouTuber Cupcake Aisyah overcomes harassment, hate and hacking
Malaysian YouTuber Cupcake Aisyah overcomes harassment, hate and hacking
SEA Gamer Mall was established in 2007 with offices in China, Thailand and Indonesia.
On its website, the corporate said it had 1.9 million registered users, and in a 2017 news article, Wong was quoted as stating that the majority of the location’s sales got here from prepaid reload cards and virtual online gaming items.
A U.S. Department of Justice report said Wong and Ling were arrested on September 14 through cooperation with local law enforcement and now face extradition proceedings.
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