Officials disrupt Chinese espionage operation that hit multiple federal agencies

Summary

Federal authorities have disrupted a sophisticated, state-sponsored espionage operation linked to China, which had been targeting U.S. critical infrastructure and federal agencies since 2018. The operation, conducted by a group known as QTFY, utilized a comprehensive hacking suite including botnets and vulnerability exploitation tools. Officials seized malicious domains and infrastructure, effectively hindering the group's ability to conduct reconnaissance and exploit vulnerabilities in various vendor products.

Full text

Federal authorities Wednesday revealed a multi-layered Chinese state-sponsored espionage operation that’s targeted and compromised U.S. critical infrastructure, including multiple federal agencies, since 2018. Officials seized domains and unsealed an affidavit detailing how a Chinese government-funded front company assembled a botnet and complementary systems that allowed attackers to intrude highly sensitive networks. The FBI and Justice Department said the state-sponsored group, known as “QTFY,” has targeted and intruded the networks of the Departments of Energy, Justice, Health and Human Services, the Federal Reserve, NASA, National Institutes of Health, and, unsuccessfully in March, the Senate. Financial institutions, defense contractors, utility companies, telecom providers and hospitals have also been targeted by the threat group, which includes former members of China’s military, according to court records. Officials said QTFY also attempted, but was unsuccessful, in gaining access to a U.S. election system in June. The long-running operation, which officials obstructed by seizing malicious infrastructure, provided an expansive set of services. QTFY’s full hacking suite allowed attackers to scan and exploit vulnerabilities, infect IoT devices for a botnet, and conceal or reroute traffic. QTFY’s operation was comprehensive with features that provided continuous reconnaissance capabilities and flexibilities designed for specific targets or objectives, said Ryan English, information security engineer at Lumen Technologies’ Black Lotus Labs, which aided the disruption efforts. Officials said they seized three domains, which cut off access to QScan and QTRouter, the group’s primary platforms. “Today’s announcement demonstrates the Justice Department’s steadfast commitment to going on the offensive against cyber threats to national security,” John A. Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. “These court-authorized seizures deny People’s Republic of China-linked hackers access to tools they use to mount online attacks against our nation’s critical infrastructure.” The FBI, National Security Agency and Cyber National Mission Force released a joint cybersecurity advisory with QTFY’s known indicators of compromise Wednesday. Officials also detailed the China-linked hacking group’s affiliations and collaborations with other state-sponsored groups. QTFY targeted sensitive networks in the U.S. and globally by exploiting vulnerabilities in multiple vendors’ products, including Pulse Secure, Fortinet, Citrix, Microsoft, F5, Kentico CMS, Atlassian Confluence, Ivanti, Check Point, CrushFTP and BeyondTrust, officials said. QScan, the reconnaissance and vulnerability scanning tool, included more than 200 proof-of-concept exploits, according to court records. “It was designed for large-scale deployment. On a single day in 2024 for example, QScan processed over two million scanning and exploit tasks,” a special agent for the FBI said in the affidavit. The Chinese hacking collective exploited multiple Ivanti zero-day vulnerabilities in September 2024 to intrude the networks of three DOE national laboratories, NIH, an HHS agency and a U.S.-based security device manufacturer. Officials said the seized domains were all used in those attacks. The FBI has been investigating QTFY, which operated out of a private China-based front company, Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company, since at least 2019. The group has been consistently active for more than eight years. “Discovery of these private companies building networks for China is becoming more frequent,” English said. “We’re starting to see that when they’re getting exposed, some of these have been in business a few years before they’re found.” The takedown follows a series of technical operations aimed at dismantling China state-sponsored attackers’ infrastructure, including an operation in early 2025 that allowed officials to remove PlugX malware from thousands of U.S.-based computers. “State-sponsored malicious hackers preying on America’s critical infrastructure will be stopped and prosecuted,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “We are here to ensure security for the American people and will use every tool we have to keep that promise.” Share Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Copy Link

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