U.S. says Chinese hackers broke into Justice Department, NASA, Federal Reserve, Senate

The United States has accused Chinese hackers of infiltrating multiple government agencies, including the Justice Department, NASA, the Federal Reserve, and the Senate. In a statement, the Justice Department disclosed that it had seized domains associated with two hacking platforms, QScan and QTRouter, utilized in the operation.

An affidavit identified additional victims, such as the U.S. Department of Energy, Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, and four unnamed companies in the U.S. and South Korea. The Chinese embassy in Washington declined to comment on the matter, a common response when facing accusations of hacking. Beijing routinely denies responsibility for such cyber activities.

The Justice Department revealed that QScan and QTRouter were operated by a Chinese firm, Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company, which reportedly served clients including China's civilian intelligence agency and the military. The company did not respond to requests for comment. The affidavit stated that the hackers have been targeting critical infrastructure and sensitive networks since at least 2018.

Their level of access varied, with some intrusions being unsuccessful, such as the attempted breach of NASA's networks in August 2019 via a virtual private network vulnerability. In September 2024, the hackers successfully infiltrated three unnamed Energy Department laboratories, the NIH, an unnamed HHS agency, and a security device manufacturer.

Agencies and organizations identified as targets by the Justice Department have not yet provided a response to requests for comment. Chinese-linked hacking campaigns have compromised numerous sensitive U.S. government and private networks over the past few years. In March, the FBI alerted Congress that Chinese hackers had accessed certain agencies involved in FBI investigations.

Additionally, Chinese hackers have been linked to breaches of U.S. House of Representatives committee networks and several major telecommunications companies. Experts on Chinese cyber activity suggest that private contractors frequently execute high-profile intrusions on behalf of various Chinese government agencies. Dakota Cary, a China analyst at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, noted that the number of companies offering specialized offensive services has surged over the past decade.