Suspended death sentence for Chinese official in anti-virus kickback plot

A Chinese court has found a high-up security official guilty of corruption, taking over 14 million yuan (over US $2 million) in bribes from different internet security companies, and sending out anti-virus warnings to boost sales of an anti-virus product.

The Epoch Times, a publication critical of the ruling Communist party in China, is reporting that Chinese government official Yu Bing, a former director of Internet monitoring department of the Ministry of Public Security, is said to have received bribes from a number of firms including 4.2 million yuan ($630,000) from leading Chinese anti-virus firm Rising.

According to media reports, Yu pleaded guilty earlier this year to all charges of bribery charges and also fabricating evidence to frame Tian Yakui, a Vice President at Chinese anti-virus firm Micropoint, who used to work for Rising.

The court heard that…

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.