US Cracks Down on COVID-19 Cyber-Spies

The US Justice Department has charged 2 Chinese men with spying on US firms conducting coronavirus research in Massachusetts and Maryland, according to the BBC.

Prosecutors say China has sponsored the men—described as private hackers who live in China. The allegations follow similar accusations last week that Russian hackers have been working to steal vaccine research secrets.

The Trump administration also ordered China to close its diplomatic consulate in Houston “in order to protect American intellectual property and American’s private information,” Axios reports. Police received reports that Chinese consulate officials at the building were “burning their own paperwork.”