The Federal Reserve, the U.S. Senate, the Department of Justice, NASA, and other federal agencies were victims of computer intrusions by a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group, the DOJ said on Wednesday morning as it announced the court-ordered seizure of internet domains used for hacking platforms.
The hacking platforms, known as “QScan” and “QTRouter,” were “used to target U.S. critical infrastructure and other sensitive networks,” the DOJ said in a statement.
“Other targeted networks include those operated by hospitals, telecommunications providers, power companies, financial institutions, and defense contractors,” a court filing said.
Other federal agencies that were victims of computer intrusion by the platforms were the Energy Department, the Health and Human Services Department, and the National Institutes of Health, according to the DOJ.
The DOJ did not detail the damage to the agencies or other targets from the computer intrusions.
A Chinese state-sponsored group known as “QTFY” created and operated the hacking platforms, according to court documents unsealed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California.
QTFY was employed by Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company, a China-based company, according to filings. QTFY’s paying customers include the People’s Republic of China’s Ministry of State Security and the People’s Liberation Army, the DOJ said.
The department said that the seized internet domains were hard-coded into both the QScan and QTRouter malware. The seizures made the QScan and QTRouter inoperable, according to the DOJ.
Attorney General Todd Blanche, in a statement on Wednesday, said, “State-sponsored malicious hackers preying on America’s critical infrastructure will be stopped and prosecuted. We are here to ensure security for the American people and will use every tool we have to keep that promise.”
“Federal law enforcement investigated and disabled the PRC’s malicious software, the latest in a series of technical operations to dismantle indiscriminate hacking activities sponsored by the People’s Republic of China,” Blanche said.
CNBC has requested comment from the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C.
The announcement of the seizure of domains used for the hacking comes more than a month after John Harold Rogers, a former senior advisor to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, was sentenced to 38 months in prison for making false statements to federal investigators about sharing restricted information about monetary policy and the Federal Open Market Committee with Chinese intelligence operatives.
Rogers was acquitted at trial of the more serious charge of conspiracy to commit economic espionage.
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