In the last few minutes, news is coming out that four Chinese Nationals are being charged by the US Department Of Justice in relation to the Equifax hack. The Washington Post has the details:
In a nine-count indictment filed in federal court in Atlanta, federal prosecutors alleged that four members of the People’s Liberation Army hacked into Equifax’s systems, stealing the personal data as well as company trade secrets. In a statement announcing the case, Attorney General William P. Barr called their efforts “a deliberate and sweeping instrusion into the private information of the American people.”
The fact that these four individuals are members of the Chinese military underscores the threat that nation states can pose to IT infrastructure. Also, it is highly unlikely that they will ever face trial in the US as I see no scenario where China hands them over to face US justice as I have to assume that they are still in China. Thus I can see a scenario where the US goes after the Chinese in cyberspace in retaliation for this hack, and perhaps others as China has been linked with other high profile hacks that have happened in teh last few years.
UPDATE: You can read the indictment here.