Digital Forensics Dispatch

Digital Forensics Company Owner Arrested for Being a Double Agent

May 21, 2019

The CEO and owner of a Digital Forensics company (H-11 Digital Forensics) based out of Salt Lake City, Utah was arrested last June by the FBI as he attempted to board a flight to China. Ron Hansen was indicted on 15 counts of espionage and has since pled guilty to attempting to steal and deliver military secrets to the Chinese government. Hanson, a U.S. Army veteran and civilian contractor, previously worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

Evidence acquired by the FBI detailed communications, money transfers (no less than $800,000) and other interactions between Hanson and intelligence agents working for the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). The report states that he began communicating with Chinese intelligence officials starting in 2014 and was able to use contacts in the intelligence community to gather information to pass along to the Chinese. The FBI was able to recover electronic communications between Hanson and his American and Chinese contacts through digital forensic analysis of his devices and email accounts.

Sentencing for Mr. Hanson is slated for September 24. 2019 and he’s likely to spend at least 15 years in a federal prison for his crimes.

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