US Says China-Linked Hackers Targeted NASA, Fed and Senate

(Bloomberg) — The US Justice Department and FBI said they disrupted online infrastructure allegedly used by Chinese state-sponsored hackers to target American government agencies and critical infrastructure.

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The alleged intrusions affected entities including NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy and the US Senate, the agencies said in a Wednesday statement. They accused a China-linked group called QTFY of carrying out the attacks using two platforms that were disabled in a court-authorized operation.

The Justice Department said QTFY was employed by China-based Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company and offered hacking services to paying customers, including the Chinese Ministry of State Security and People’s Liberation Army. The platforms, known as QScan and QTRouter, allowed hackers to route malicious traffic through compromised devices outside China, making the activity appear to originate elsewhere, according to the department.

The department did not say what systems the hackers allegedly accessed at those organizations or whether any information was stolen.

US authorities said the operation was part of a broader effort to disrupt Chinese cyber campaigns targeting sensitive networks. QTFY’s activities date back to at least 2018, according to a cybersecurity advisory released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology could not immediately be reached.

Beijing has consistently denied involvement in cyberattacks, saying it opposes hacking in all forms. Chinese officials have also accused Washington of conducting its own global cyber operations and using cybersecurity allegations to discredit China and advance broader geopolitical objectives.