FBI says it has disrupted major Chinese hacking operation that threatened US critical infrastructure

[BumRushDaShow]

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

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Link to DOJ PRESS RELEASE - Court-Authorized Operation Disrupts Worldwide Botnet Used by People’s Republic of China State-Sponsored Hackers

[C_U_L8R]

1. How does one seize control of a virtual network?

Just curious.

[IronLionZion]

2. By seizing control of networking devices like routers, switches, firewalls, and access control

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.

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.

[Mr.WeRP]

3. It has to run on hardware... they seized the underlying hardware

This hardware was hacked by the Chinese to support their botnet from which they launched attacks.

[C_U_L8R]

5. I really meant, how did the FBI seize it back?

I guess the same way it was seized?

[reACTIONary]

8. They would have blocked ...

... 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]

11. Gotcha. Thanks!

We've definitely entered a new era.

[reACTIONary]

7. They cannot physically seize...

.... 260,000 hacked devices from around the world. What they probably did was block the IP addresses from sending or receiving data.

[Think. Again.]

4. I wonder if the owner/users of the infected devices will be notified so they can be disabled?

If it was one of my computers or cameras that had been hijacked, I would want to know.

[reACTIONary]

9. Probably not....

... 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.

[Think. Again.]

10. Thanks! That makes sense.

[FakeNoose]

6. This is big news!

[Martin68]

12. Glad to her there is some pushback.

[Irish_Dem]

13. US finally waking up to the fact China and Russia are waging war w/ us.