US Disrupts Chinese Hacking Operation Targeting Sensitive Government Agencies

The US government has announced that it has disrupted a Chinese hacking operation that targeted sensitive government agencies, including the Justice Department, NASA, and the Federal Reserve. The hacking platforms, dubbed QScan and QTRouter, were run by a China-based firm called Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company.

According to an affidavit, the hackers used tools they developed to compromise critical infrastructure and other sensitive networks in the US and worldwide since at least 2018. The hacking attempts started as early as August 2019, when the hackers attempted to gain access to NASA networks by targeting a virtual private network vulnerability.

The Justice Department said that not all their attempts were successful, but they did successfully compromise networks of several government agencies, including the US Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The hackers also scanned for vulnerabilities and made unsuccessful attempts to access networks of the US Senate and a US hospital in March 2026.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said that while they were not familiar with the specifics mentioned in the DOJ statement, China 'opposes the U.S. overstretching the concept of national security and using it as a pretext to impose discriminatory restrictions on Chinese companies and will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.'

Experts who follow Chinese cyber activity say private contractors routinely carry out high-profile intrusions on behalf of various Chinese government agencies.