Washington, D.C. — U.S. authorities say they have disrupted a Chinese state-sponsored hacking operation that penetrated or targeted some of the federal government’s most sensitive networks, including NASA, the Federal Reserve, Justice Department and U.S. Senate.
The Justice Department said Wednesday that the FBI seized three internet domains supporting two hacking platforms, QScan and QTRouter. Court documents linked the platforms to QTFY, a group operating through China-based Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company.
Federal investigators said the company provided hacking services to clients including China’s Ministry of State Security and People’s Liberation Army. Other victims or targets included the Energy Department, Department of Health and Human Services and National Institutes of Health, along with private companies in the United States and South Korea.
The malicious infrastructure had been used against critical infrastructure and sensitive networks worldwide since at least 2018. Authorities said QScan identified vulnerable internet-connected devices, while QTRouter helped attackers disguise malicious traffic by routing it through compromised systems near intended targets.
The domain seizures rendered both platforms inoperable, according to the Justice Department. The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to Reuters, while Beijing has routinely denied allegations that it sponsors cyberattacks.
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