The Department of Justice says it has disrupted an long-running campaign by China-backed hackers to access computer systems for at least seven federal agencies or institutions.
Affected entities include NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, the Justice Department and the U.S. Senate.
According to a newly released federal affidavit, the state-sponsored group sold services to Chinese government entities including the Ministry of State Security and the People’s Liberation Army.
U.S. federal investigators seized two hacking platforms that it believes were sponsored by China. The tools were used to automatically infect internet-connected devices and obscure the origin points of malicious actors.
“Today we announced the disruption of a global botnet and hacking platform used by Chinese state-sponsored hackers to target U.S. critical infrastructure,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “These tools were used by PRC cyber actors to hide the origin of their attacks."
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The DOJ says four other unnamed companies in South Korea were also targeted in the hacking attempts.
The state-backed hacking activity has gone on for years, with some access attempts dating back to 2018. Attacks had varying levels of success. One in 2019 failed to gain access to NASA networks, while other attempts to infiltrate Energy Department and NIH networks in 2024 were more successful.
Scripps News has reached out to the Chinese embassy in Washington for additional comment.
