US Disrupts Chinese Hacking Operation Targeting Sensitive Government Agencies

US authorities have announced the disruption of a Chinese hacking operation that targeted sensitive government agencies. The Justice Department stated that it has seized internet domains used by two hacking platforms, QScan and QTRouter, which were allegedly employed by Beijing to burrow into US target networks.

The victims of this cyber break-in include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Federal Reserve, Department of Energy, Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, and the US Senate. The hackers, part of a People's Republic of China state-sponsored group known as QTFY, used these platforms to create and operate their hacking services.

The QScan platform scanned and automatically infected thousands of IoT devices worldwide, which were then added to the QTRouter network controlled by QTFY. This network served as an obfuscation tool to conceal the Chinese government-linked origin of their computer intrusion activities.