The U.S. Justice Department recently released information on what the arrested Chinese hackers charged with cyber theft were after. 

Based on the 31-count indictment announced on Monday, the Justice Department showed that the five Chinese military officials stole business information, which include sensitive trade secrets and internal company information. 

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According to federal prosecutors, the Chinese hackers were after blueprints to nuclear power plants, information on key computers at steel manufacturers and business plans of a solar energy company. 

The alleged victims of the cyber theft include Westinghouse, Alcoa World Alumina, U.S. Steel, Allegheny Technologies, SolarWorld and United Steelworkers Union. 

Thomas Brown, former federal prosecutor and now cybersecurity expert at FTI consulting, said that China is after industry information that would give it every economic advantage. 

"Decades of time spent developing technologies are being ripped off and stolen everyday," said Brown. 

Based on the indictment, China and its hackers were stealing valuable information that could give Chinese state-owned businesses unfair advantage. For instance, companies like Westinghouse have spent years and money designing pipes for pressurized water reactor only to lose those designs to possible market competitors. That means a Chinese company in a nuclear plant business will be able to skip research and development expenses. 

Christopher Tarbell, former FBI cybercrime squad member, said the Chinese can avoid all possible financial losses associated with years of research and development. 

SolarWorld, another alleged victim of the cyber theft, issued a statement and thanked the Justice Department for pursuing the case. It said that China's action is another example of a systematic thrust to gain unfair advantage in the solar business both in the U.S. and elsewhere. 

Cybersecurity expert David Kennedy said that secretive economic attacks like these have cost American companies lost profits, even led to thousands of employees losing their jobs. Kennedy's firm, TrustedSec, advises companies which security systems have also been breached.

Tagscybersecurity, Chinese hackers, U.S. businesses, U.S. Justice Department