US Corrects Claims on China Hacking Campaign

The US Department of Justice has revised its earlier statement about a Chinese state-sponsored hacking campaign. The initial claim stated that several major US government institutions were hacked, but the revised statement clarifies that they were actually targeted, not necessarily successfully breached.

The organisations affected include the US Senate, Federal Reserve, and NASA. The distinction between being targeted and being hacked is crucial, as being targeted does not necessarily mean that hackers gained access to a network or stole data.

The FBI affidavit, which supports the seizure of infrastructure used by the hackers, provides one clear example of an unsuccessful intrusion attempt. In this case, the attempted breach of NASA's system was unsuccessful due to a timely software patch.