The United States announced on Wednesday that it had disrupted a Chinese hacking campaign that targeted the U.S. Justice Department, NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Senate, and other sensitive government agencies. The U.S. Justice Department disclosed that it had taken control of domains utilized by two hacking platforms known as “QScan” and “QTRouter,” which were part of the cyberattack 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 unidentified companies in the U.S. and South Korea were among the victims of the hackers. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond immediately to requests for comments, in line with Beijing’s usual denial of involvement in hacking activities.
According to the Justice Department, the hacking platforms were operated by a Chinese company called Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company, with clients including China’s Ministry of State Security and the People’s Liberation Army. Nanjing Xinjiuwei did not provide an immediate comment on the matter.
The affidavit detailed that the hacking group’s infrastructure had been used to breach critical infrastructure and sensitive networks in the U.S. and globally since at least 2018. The hackers attempted unsuccessfully to breach NASA networks in August 2019 and successfully infiltrated Energy Department laboratories, the NIH, an HHS agency, and a U.S. security device manufacturer in September 2024.
The agencies and organizations targeted by the hackers did not immediately respond to requests for comments. Chinese-linked hacking operations have compromised various U.S. government and private networks in recent years, including incidents involving FBI networks and the U.S. House of Representatives committee networks.
Experts monitoring Chinese cyber activities suggest that private contractors frequently conduct significant cyber intrusions on behalf of Chinese government agencies. Dakota Cary, a China analyst at cybersecurity company SentinelOne, highlighted the rise in companies offering specialized offensive services over the past decade.