United States – The U.S law enforcement has shut down the second major Chinese hacking group known as ‘Flax Typhoon,’ said FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday, regaining thousands of compromised gadgets from the group, as reported by Reuters.
Connection to Chinese Government
Wray, while addressing a cyber security conference in Washington, said that Flax Typhoon was owned by a Chinese organization called the Integrity Technology Group, which, like many IT firms, “collected intelligence and performed reconnaissance for Chinese government security agencies.”
Spokespeople for China’s embassy in Washington were not available to answer this request at the time of writing this articles.
Previous Concerns
A previously known hacking group called ‘Volt Typhoon’ has been a cause of concern to Western officials, especially after it was identified early last year as a cyber sabotage group whose aim was to settle in US vital facilities.
The U. S. officials have claimed that it is backed by China, while Beijing has claimed that it is a ransomware gang.
Ongoing Fight Against Cybercrime
According to Wray, the operation aimed at the Flax Typhoon was conducted last week as part of the continuing process of neutralizing China’s botnets. For example, in the Volt Typhoon case, Wray stated that the Flax Typhoon was intended to attack the critical infrastructure of corporations, media outlets, universities, and government institutions.
To cover their tracks, Flax Typhoon relayed their malicious traffic through a structure known as a botnet, which involves a collection of unmindful devices such as cameras and digital storage units in this instance, Wray added. He pointed out that when the FBI attempted to seize the control of the botnet’s network, the hackers retaliated with a cyber attack and fled the battle, as reported by Reuters.
Commitment to Cybersecurity
Wray said the bureau will keep on warring with China’s hackers. The action made against Flax Typhoon was “just one round in a much longer fight,” he stressed.