Chinese woman arrested for carrying malware in US President Donald Trump's resort
04 April, 2019
A Chinese woman has been charged with allegedly carrying a thumb drive loaded with malware to Mar-a-Lago resort, which is owned by US President Donald Trump.
According to Engadget, the woman, Yujing Zhang, has been charged with making false statements to a federal officer and entering the restricted property after she visited the resort on March 30 with the malware-ridden USB drive.
She initially said that she wanted to use the pool, but later claimed she was there to attend a non-existent UN Friendship Event and wanted to speak to a member of the President’s family about China’s economic relationship with the US.
In addition to the USB drive, she was also carrying four cellphones, a laptop, an external hard drive, and two Republic of China passports. It is not clear what her true intentions were as Trump was also staying at the resort at the time.
However, the malware and the pattern of behaviour including lying about her purpose of visit, the unusual gear, and timing of the visit raise concerns about it being an attempt to compromise systems.
If there was any malicious intent, Zhang could have swiped sensitive information. She was caught by the receptionist after she talked about attending the false event and wasn’t on the property’s access list either.