China

U.S. federal prosecutors charged four members of China's People's Liberation Army on February 10, 2020, with orchestrating one of the largest data breaches in history. The defendants allegedly exploited a vulnerability in Equifax's systems to steal sensitive information from approximately 145 million Americans over a two-month period in 2017.

Chinese triad organizations have established an extensive criminal network that reaches far beyond Asia. Sun Yee On, Wo Shing Wo and the 14K Triad are among the largest players behind international drug trafficking, human trafficking and large-scale money laundering.

Between 2000 and 2003, Yang Xinhai systematically murdered at least 67 people across rural China, earning the nickname 'Monster Killer.' Operating across Anhui, Hebei, Henan, and Shandong provinces, he targeted isolated farmhouses at night, killing entire families with axes and hammers before his capture in November 2003.