FBI REMOTELY DELETES CHINESE MALWARE FROM U.S. COMPUTERS
Tuesday, January 14th, 2025
FBI remotely deletes Chinese malware from thousands of U.S. computers in a court-approved cyber move
Global security action targets ‘Mustang Panda’ hackers identified as state-linked data theft group
– The Washington Times –
The FBI and French authorities conducted an international operation to remotely delete Chinese malware used by Beijing-linked hackers to steal data from thousands of U.S., European, and Asian computer networks, the Justice Department disclosed on Tuesday.
The hacking group dubbed “Mustang Panda” and “Swill Typhoon” by security authorities has been paid by the Chinese government since at least 2014 for the use of special malware called PlugX, the department said in a statement.
Court documents unsealed in federal court in Philadelphia charged that the hackers infiltrated Windows-based computers of both government and private sector networks in the U.S. Shipping companies in Europe and several European governments were also hacked, along with Chinese dissident groups and governments throughout the Indo-Pacific region, an FBI affidavit stated.
French law enforcement was able to penetrate the Chinese command-and-control network that was running the hacking operation, the document said. The French then were able to issue a “self-delete” command that eliminated the software on an infected network.
The FBI then applied the same technique on U.S. systems.