US Disrupts Chinese State-Sponsored Hacking Campaign Targeting Sensitive Networks

The US Justice Department has disrupted a Chinese state-sponsored hacking campaign that targeted highly sensitive government networks. The operation, which has been ongoing for an unspecified period, involved breaches of the Federal Reserve, NASA, the DOJ itself, and the U.S. Senate.

US authorities have seized internet domains linked to two hacking platforms, QScan and QTRouter, which were allegedly used to target critical infrastructure and other sensitive networks across the country. A court filing detailed the scope of the intrusions, identifying hospitals, telecommunications providers, power companies, financial institutions, and defense contractors among the networks that were targeted.

The Justice Department has not publicly identified the specific Chinese government entity or hacking group believed to be responsible for the operation. However, the characterization of the activity as state-sponsored signals that investigators have attributed the campaign to actors operating on behalf of the Chinese government.