Biden administration targets Chinese hackers

CNN reports that the United States imposed cyber-related sanctions on China-based Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science And Technology Company Ltd on Monday.

According to CNN, seven Chinese individuals have been formally charged in the U.S. Federal Court in the Eastern District of New York, implicated in a prolonged hacking campaign. This effort has led to the "confirmed and potential compromise" of data affecting millions of Americans. The indictment suggests some of this data might be deployed to undermine U.S. democratic institutions through "malign influence."

The hackers aimed their efforts at crucial sectors of American critical infrastructure, including targeting a defense contractor involved in creating flight simulators for the US military, as revealed by the US Treasury Department while imposing sanctions on two of the individuals. The State Department has offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification of these seven individuals.

According to CNN, this hacking operation was extensive, launching over 10,000 harmful emails at high-level US officials and advisors across the White House, Justice Department, and other federal agencies, as well as Democratic and Republican senators across over ten states, all within a few months in 2018. The indictment detailed that the hackers masqueraded as well-known US journalists to deceive their targets into engaging with the emails.

The disclosure of these activities coincided with the UK government's announcement that this same group of Chinese hackers likely infiltrated the UK Electoral Commission between 2021 and 2022 and engaged in digital scouting of British lawmakers. Despite these actions, the UK's foreign office assured that this did not compromise the electoral process or the rights and registration of voters in the UK, reports CNN.

Source: CNN