Officials disrupt Chinese espionage operation that hit multiple federal agencies
Brief
Federal authorities Wednesday revealed a multi-layered Chinese state-sponsored espionage operation that’s targeted and compromised U. S. critical infrastructure, including multiple federal agencies, since 2018.
Officials seized domains and unsealed an affidavit detailing how a Chinese government-funded front company assembled a botnet and complementary systems that allowed attackers to intrude highly sensitive networks.
The FBI and Justice Department said the state-sponsored group, known as “QTFY,” has targeted and intruded the networks of the Departments of Energy, Justice, Health and Human Services, the Federal Reserve, NASA, National Institutes of Health, and, unsuccessfully in March, the Senate.