FBI says it has disrupted major Chinese hacking operation that threatened US critical infrastructure
Source: CNN Politics
Published 2:15 PM EDT, Wed September 18, 2024
CNN The FBI has used a court order to seize control of a network of hundreds of thousands of hacked internet routers and other devices that Chinese government-linked hackers were using to threaten critical infrastructure in the US and overseas, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday.
It is just one round in a much longer fight, Wray said in a speech at the Aspen Cyber Summit in Washington, DC. The Chinese government is going to continue to target your organizations and our critical infrastructure.
The massive web of hacked devices known as a botnet was a menace that the Chinese hackers could have used to conduct targeted cyberattacks on US companies or government agencies, according to an advisory released by the US and its Five Eyes allies (the English-speaking alliance that includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom). As of June, the botnet included over 260,000 hacked devices from all over the world, from North and South America to Australia, according to US officials. Those hacked devices ranged from webcams to DVRs to routers, and about half of them were located in the US, according to Wray.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington called the US allegations groundless and accused the US government of conducting cyberattacks against China
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/18/politics/fbi-chinese-hacking/index.html
Link to DOJ PRESS RELEASE - Court-Authorized Operation Disrupts Worldwide Botnet Used by Peoples Republic of China State-Sponsored Hackers
C_U_L8R
(45,392 posts)Just curious.
IronLionZion
(46,688 posts)with malware to control them and route data without drawing too much attention to what is happening. This was pretty sophisticated and organized at large scale.
Mr.WeRP
(369 posts)This hardware was hacked by the Chinese to support their botnet from which they launched attacks.
C_U_L8R
(45,392 posts)I guess the same way it was seized?
reACTIONary
(5,904 posts)... the device IP addresses from sending or receiving data, using the internet infrastructure maintained by internet service providers and domain name servers. They call that "seizing" because that is the legal term, but blocking is probably the more correct term.
C_U_L8R
(45,392 posts)We've definitely entered a new era.
reACTIONary
(5,904 posts).... 260,000 hacked devices from around the world. What they probably did was block the IP addresses from sending or receiving data.
Think. Again.
(15,636 posts)If it was one of my computers or cameras that had been hijacked, I would want to know.
reACTIONary
(5,904 posts)... the devices that make up a bot net are usually neglected and poorly maintained by their owners. What will probably happen is that they will stop communicating over the internet, and the owners may not even realize it. If the do, they would contact their ISP and complain, and then they would be told.