Equifax Inc. is seen, Saturday, July 21, 2012, in Atlanta. Equifax Inc. is a consumer credit reporting agency in the United States. Founded in 1899, Equifax is the oldest of the three agencies and gathers and maintains information on millions of credit holders worldwide. Equifax is listed on the NYSE and is based in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
The U.S. Justice Department has indicted four Chinese military officers.
Attorney General William Barr said they allegedly hacked Equifax, a top American credit-reporting agency, stealing private sensitive data including names, birthdates and social security numbers of nearly 150 million Americans.
Attorney General William Barr speaks during a news conference, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, at the Justice Department in Washington, as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Seth Ducharm looks on. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Wang Qian, Xu Ke, Liu Lei and Wu Zhiyong, with three counts of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, economic espionage and wire fraud.
The defendants are also charged with two counts of unauthorized access and intentional damage to a protected computer, one count of economic espionage and three counts of wire fraud.
None of the suspects is in custody, and officials acknowledge there's little immediate likelihood the defendants will come to the U.S. for trial.
China denies involvement in hacking American businesses.
Washington has previously blamed China for hacking files on U.S. government employees, a top health-insurance provider and a top U.S.-based international hotel chain.