A significant development in U.S. cybersecurity has emerged as Ping Li, a 59-year-old Florida resident and naturalized U.S. citizen, received a four-year prison sentence for espionage activities. The former Verizon and Infosys employee was convicted of operating as an agent for China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) since 2012.

The sentence includes a substantial $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release following imprisonment. Li admitted to acting as an unregistered Chinese agent, utilizing anonymous Gmail and Yahoo accounts to transmit sensitive information.

The compromised data included critical intelligence about Chinese dissidents, pro-democracy advocates, and Falun Gong members. Additionally, Li leaked Verizon’s employee training materials, cybersecurity protocols, and information regarding the 2021 SolarWinds cyber attack.

This case represents a broader pattern of Chinese espionage in the United States. Statistics reveal that between 2021 and 2024, over 55 Chinese Communist Party-related espionage cases were documented across 20 states. The period from 2000 to 2023 saw 224 Chinese espionage incidents, with China being linked to 80% of economic espionage cases and 60% of trade secret theft cases.

The conviction coincides with ongoing investigations into Chinese state-sponsored cyber operations, including the Salt Typhoon campaign targeting U.S. telecommunications infrastructure, highlighting the persistent threat to American technological security.