The United States announced on Wednesday that it has disrupted a Chinese hacking campaign that targeted the U.S. Justice Department, NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Senate, and other government agencies. According to a statement from the U.S. Justice Department, domains used by two hacking platforms named “QScan” and “QTRouter” were seized as part of the operation.
An affidavit revealed that the U.S. Department of Energy, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and four undisclosed companies in the U.S. and South Korea were among the victims of the hackers. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comments, consistent with Beijing’s usual denial of hacking activities.
The Justice Department disclosed that the hacking platforms were operated by Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company, a China-based firm with clients including China’s Ministry of State Security and the People’s Liberation Army. Nanjing Xinjiuwei has not yet provided a comment on the matter.
The affidavit detailed that the hackers’ infrastructure had been utilized to compromise critical infrastructure and sensitive networks in the U.S. and globally since at least 2018. The hackers attempted to breach NASA networks in August 2019 through a virtual private network vulnerability and conducted intrusions at Energy Department laboratories, the NIH, an HHS agency, and a U.S. security device manufacturer in September 2024.
Representatives of the targeted agencies and government organizations have not responded immediately to requests for comments. Chinese-linked hacking operations have infiltrated several U.S. government and private networks in recent years, including networks related to FBI investigations and U.S. House of Representatives committees.
Experts monitoring Chinese cyber activities suggest that private contractors commonly engage in high-profile intrusions on behalf of various Chinese government agencies. Dakota Cary, a China analyst at cybersecurity company SentinelOne, highlighted the proliferation of companies offering specialized offensive services over the past decade.