By Steve Neavling
The FBI has disrupted a Chinese government-backed hacker group that targeted universities, government agencies, and other organizations, FBI Director Chris Wray announced Wednesday.
The group, known as Flax Typhoon, installed malware on more than 200,000 consumer devices – ranging from cameras to home and office routers – forming a vast botnet used for cybercrimes, including stealing sensitive data from networks, the Associated Press reports.
“Flax Typhoon’s actions caused real harm to its victims, who had to devote precious time to clean up the mess when they discovered the malware,” Wray said during the Aspen Cyber Summit.
At the same event, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco stressed the broader implications of the hack for everyday citizens, saying the average person should care because this case involves “criminal activity, disruptive activity going on in potentially their devices. And, it is part of a broader ecosystem that malicious cyber actors are using.”
While the FBI and Department of Justice, which secured a warrant to seize the botnet infrastructure, did not disclose specific targets, they noted that the group attacked universities, government agencies, telecom providers, media outlets, and NGOs. About half of the compromised devices were located in the U.S., according to Wray.
“This was another successful disruption, but make no mistake—it’s just one round in a much longer fight,” Wray said. “The Chinese government will continue to target your organizations and our critical infrastructure, either directly or through proxies. We’ll keep working with our partners to disrupt their campaigns and bring their actions to light.”
