Chinese Spy Caught with Motorola Secrets

[Motofanatic]

Given the recent discussion about how R&D is getting cut at big M and I realize there are some members on the board here who are former employees, some may feel this act of espionage is deserving of the corporate mentality M has bestowed upon their current/former employees

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sectio ... id=6228552

(WLS) -- A Chinese spy was caught "red-handed," according to federal authorities, as she was about to board a plane at O'Hare bound for Beijing.

Hanjuan Jin says she worked as a computer engineer for Schaumburg-based Motorola, a global leader in communications technology.

Federal agents say Jin was also working as a spy for a Chinese company, and she has been charged in a corporate espionage case that reflects a growing national security problem.

She doesn't look much like the villainess in a James Bond film. But the FBI says 37-year-old Hanjuan Jin played the spy role in real life.

Jin, a Chinese-born American citizen and graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology, had been working at Motorola headquarters in Schaumburg since 1998. She was a software engineer, living in a comfortable townhouse not far from her job.

Two years ago, according to a federal indictment handed up in April, Jin went on medical leave from Motorola.

Despite claiming to be deathly ill, investigators say, she traveled from Chicago to Beijing where she agreed to work for a Chinese tech company that allegedly recruited her to steal Motorola secrets.

"The federal government is saying basically that you're a corporate spy. What about that?" the I-Team's Chuck Goudie asked Jin.

"No, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not," she responded.

"You're not a spy?" Goudie asked.

"They made a mistake," Jin said.

According to the indictment, a Chinese executive told Jin, "You should share in the fruit of our collective effort," once she'd stolen top-secret Motorola files, schematics and military communication plans.

When Jin returned to Motorola from medical leave in February of 2007, authorities say, she did just that, downloading hundreds of confidential documents from the company's supposedly secure internal network, including documents related to public safety organizations in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Two days later, she arrived at O'Hare Airport with a one-way ticket to Beijing.

"What were you doing at O'Hare Airport with a one-way ticket to China?" Goudie asked.

"No, I go to visit my mom. My husband and my mom are China," she said.

Hanjuan Jin was just a few steps away from boarding a United 747 non-stop to China. It was only a routine check of passengers by customs agents that revealed she was carrying $30,000 in cash after declaring she had only $10,000.

"Why were you on a one-way ticket?" Goudie asked.

"Because I can buy it cheaper to China," Jin said.

"They say you're a spy," Goudie said.

"They say that, but it's not true. They make mistake. They're paranoid. They wrongly accuse me. I have fatal disease," Jin said.

"What is the fatal disease?" Goudie asked.

"I have TB and meningitis," Jin said.

"You have tuberculosis?" Goudie asked.

"I almost died," Jin responded.

During the search of Jin and her bags at O'Hare, federal agents say they found a laptop computer and more than 30 compact data storage devices containing stolen Motorola files.

Jin told Goudie the files had been given to her by a supervisor at Motorola to refresh her memory from the medical leave.

"He assigned me too much work. I couldn't do it," Jin said.

"So you were gonna take and do it in China?" Goudie asked.

"That's OK," Jin responded before getting into a car.

On its Web site, Motorola touts the company's internal security but declined an invitation from the I-Team to explain how an employee just off medical leave could nearly board a plane to Beijing with $600 million in corporate secrets. That is Motorola's own estimate quoted by the FBI.

In a brief, generic statement, Motorola cited its "extensive policies, procedures and training in place to protect the security and confidentiality of the Company's intellectual property."

Motorola isn't alone. This month, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin asked for an investigation of whether senate computers are among dozens of government devices hacked into by the Chinese. And national security agencies are now warning all Americans attending the Beijing Olympics this summer to leave cell phones and laptops at home because, they say, there is a 100 percent likelihood that Chinese agents will scan and steal the contents.

The FBI, apparently unimpressed by American corporate security, recently increased counterintelligence against Chinese infiltration of U.S. companies. FBI director Robert Mueller says he has "substantial concerns" that China is using scientists, students and "front companies" to steal U.S. military secrets, and that poses a threat to our national security.

In the past year, there have been at least a dozen criminal cases of Chinese espionage brought in the U.S.
(Copyright ©2008 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

[MTS2000des]

so when is the US going to "liberate" China and "spread democracy" over there the way we are in the middle East? We know for a fact these red communists have WMD's and they have shown us on more than one occasion they want to sabotage our economy with shoddy dangerous products, deadly disease ridden food, and now stealing our military secrets. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that China hasn't changed in years and these are the REAL THREAT to our great Nation.

When are people in this country going to wake up and see what is really going on?

And Motorola has security issues? ha ha ha....look at all their leaked RSS/CPS over the years...they must be employing the top engineers from the Microsoft Internet Exploder team to secure their network...what a shame.

[FireCpt809]

I saw that on the TV last night.. 30 flash drives worth of info and 37K in cash with a one way ticket to china.. Bye bye..

[Dan562]

OMG! AM I S-H-O-C-K-E-D .... NOT!

[MikeOxlong]

She was probably just on her way to setup the next Motorola depot site.

I hear the Chinese work cheaper then the Mexicans.

[Jim2121]

Did they do a poly yet? and where was she driving off in her car to? (I at work and had to leave the pc several times)

[PhillyPhoto]

And national security agencies are now warning all Americans attending the Beijing Olympics this summer to leave cell phones and laptops at home because, they say, there is a 100 percent likelihood that Chinese agents will scan and steal the contents.

Come on, there's not even a 0.01 chance that your laptop or cell phone won't be searched? LOL

This isn't really anything new per-se, just it happened to Motorola. Yet we continue to borrow Billions of dollars from the Chinese to fund the Iraq war and everything else our government decides to do in spite of the constitution.

But I digress. Motorola has never been known for there security really, like MTS2000des said about the RSS/CPS, let alone their own Lab software that's NEVER been leaked.[/sarcasm]

Any chance to get regular espionage or treason (A betrayal of trust or confidence. per dictionary.com) charges since she took info on equipment the US military uses?

[firecomm]

So before she was caught, how much, if anything, did she manage to get to the Chinese?

Maybe LAB S/W for the XTS/XTL radios???

Maybe that's how that Panter guy can continually have radios with all the same info in them.....

[FireCpt809]

Ive had dealings with Panter88 on ebay. He has always been great about his products and shipping. My wife bought me a saber R battery from him for christmas. She told him it was a gift and he included a Christmas card. All his things have been top notch.

[Batwings21]

That serial number and flash are what the radios carry before they are customized, that is why they are all the same. If he had lab they have a better flash too...

[firecomm]

I'm not bashing him at all, just making a little comment.

I've actually bought a number of things off of Panter88 and he has always been amazing to me. The latest and greatest purchase being the XTS2500 I just got from him, awesome!!!

[RadioSouth]

For those that have bought from Panter88, how long does it take to get your stuff ? Any issues with import duty or brokers ?

[FireCpt809]

Ive paid with paypal. It takes about 10-12 days to the midwest. He uses the Hong kong postal service and provides a tracking #

[RadioSouth]

Thanks, never bought international before, tracks right thru into the US Postal service ?

[FireCpt809]

He used some internatonal service that tracks it once it gets into the US. Ive bought from him multiple times never had a problem

[Rayjk110]

It takes a few weeks, I've gotten multiple XTS5000 cases from him. It usually comes in a little brown box, wrapped with string. But hey, it works and they got here safely.

[nmfire10]

And national security agencies are now warning all Americans attending the Beijing Olympics this summer to leave cell phones and laptops at home because, they say, there is a 100 percent likelihood that Chinese agents will scan and steal the contents.

Most likely.

[beemare]

Everything I have bought from him has been no more than 6-7 days, some items even 3-4 days.

That's coming into Canada though......

[nova1010]

$600 million in corporate secrets holy crap....throw her ass in jail,why is she even out?

More detail here http://cicentre.com/spycase/ecoesp/JIN_Hanjuan.html

[Jim2121]

$600 million in corporate secrets holy crap....throw her ass in jail,why is she even out?

More detail here http://cicentre.com/spycase/ecoesp/JIN_Hanjuan.html

No Kidding! I posted that same question above! Jim