US Disrupts Chinese Hacking Operation Targeting Government Agencies

The US government has announced that it has disrupted a Chinese hacking operation that targeted several sensitive government agencies, including the Justice Department, NASA, and the Federal Reserve. The operation, which began in 2018, used two hacking platforms, QScan and QTRouter, to gain access to critical infrastructure and other sensitive networks in the US and worldwide.

The Justice Department said it had seized domains used by the platforms, which were run by a China-based firm, Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company. The company's clients included China's civilian intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security, and its military, the People's Liberation Army.

According to an affidavit, the hackers used tools they developed to compromise critical infrastructure and other sensitive networks since at least 2018. They attempted to gain access to NASA networks in August 2019 by targeting a virtual private network vulnerability, but were unsuccessful.