The US reported that Chinese hackers had carried out a series of cyberattacks on key government agencies, including NASA, the Federal Reserve and the Senate.
The Department of Justice reported that responsible for the attacks was the QTFY hacking group, acting through the Chinese company Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology, which counts civilian intelligence services and the armed forces among its clients. Those affected are NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Departments of Justice and Energy, as well as the US Senate, the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Meanwhile, the department has taken steps to prevent similar attacks by seizing three internet domains affiliated with a Chinese company, and has announced its intention to issue a warning about the hackers’ methods so that affected organisations can fend off the attackers.
Attorney General Todd Blanche has stressed in a statement that the seizure is “the latest in a series of technical operations to dismantle indiscriminate hacking activities sponsored by the People’s Republic of China.” He noted that “this is something that we have talked about with our counterparts in China for many, many years,” adding that “it has to stop.”
Even though the attacks first started back in 2018, the full extent of the espionage remains unclear, and further estimates of the damage are likely to remain confidential for security reasons, according to the National Security Agency. The agency reported that the company was founded in 2018 and had 17 employees as of last year.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, said in response to a request for comment on this story that “the Chinese government firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with the law. We urge the US side to stop using cybersecurity issues to smear or discredit China.”
The US statement came roughly a month before President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House. It remains unclear whether this case will be raised; Blanche said that he “is not going to tell President Trump what he needs to discuss with the Chinese leadership.”
