US revises Chinese hacking claims

The US Department of Justice revised its August 26 statement about a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group, QTFY, clarifying that several government agencies were 'targets' rather than confirmed 'victims' of successful breaches. The revised statement, issued on Friday, said the US Senate, United States — Federal Reserve, United States — NASA, and other agencies were among the targets, but only some were compromised. An FBI affidavit revealed that since at least 2018, QTFY targeted US federal networks, including United States — NASA, the United States — Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the United States — National Institutes of Health, and the US Senate. The affidavit noted that an attempted breach of United States — NASA was unsuccessful due to patching, but alleged successful intrusions in September 2024 at three DOE National Laboratories, an NIH facility, an HHS agency, and a US security device manufacturer. A joint advisory from the FBI, NSA, and US Cyber Command listed successful data thefts from unnamed defense contractors, financial institutions, and universities in May 2024, and unsuccessful attempts against the US Senate and a hospital in March 2026. The DOJ also seized two internet domains linked to QTFY's infrastructure, QScan and QTRouter. China rejected the allegations, with the Chinese Embassy and Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian accusing the US of smearing China.