US Government Seizes Hacking Platforms Used by Chinese State-Sponsored Hackers

A recent espionage campaign by Chinese state-sponsored hackers has breached several US federal institutions, according to US government officials. The Justice Department and FBI confirmed that they have seized domains used to support two hacking platforms known as 'QScan' and 'QTRouter'.

These platforms were used by a group known as 'QTFY' to target critical infrastructure and sensitive networks. The group successfully breached NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy, the US Senate, and other agencies.

The scope and nature of the breaches have not been revealed. However, officials noted that the seized domains were hard-coded into both QScan and QTRouter malware, which were then used in follow-up attacks against US government agencies.

Federal law enforcement investigated and disabled the malicious software, the latest in a series of technical operations to dismantle indiscriminate hacking activities sponsored by China. Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that state-sponsored hackers preying on America's critical infrastructure will be stopped and prosecuted.