A tool that hides the country is built for a flag, not a kid in a basement.
Chinese hackers broke into Justice Department, NASA, Federal Reserve, Senate, others, DOJ says
QScan and QTRouter hid the origin. The customers were MSS and the PLA. The victims were DOJ, NASA, the Fed, and the Senate.
Summary
- Just the News reports the Justice Department said Wednesday it seized internet domains used by two Chinese hacking platforms, QScan and QTRouter, that were used to break into DOJ, NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Senate, and other sensitive agencies.
- DOJ said a state-sponsored group known as QTFY, employed by Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology Company, created and ran the platforms. The tools let paying customers run intrusions while hiding the hackers' country of origin.
- Other victim agencies included the Energy Department, Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health. Court papers say QTFY's customers include China's Ministry of State Security and the People's Liberation Army.
- Attorney General Todd Blanche said state-sponsored hackers preying on critical infrastructure will be stopped and prosecuted, and that DOJ will use every tool to keep that promise.
Commentary
A NASA tech still badges through a turnstile and wonders which mailbox already has a silent copy. He does not get a white paper if the Fed and the Senate sit on the same victim list. He gets a weekend patch and a knot in the stomach.
That is the gap. Two platforms. A Nanjing shop. MSS and the PLA as customers. The honest dad's tax built those networks. Beijing rented a hide and walked the same halls.
Ask every American who still believes a .gov is a lock: if the Senate and the Fed share a breach list, who still calls this cyber vandalism?
Comments
I patched a SCADA box. DOJ, NASA, Fed, Senate, Energy, HHS, NIH is a target deck.
Seize the domains. Indict the company. Treat QTFY like the state shop the court already named.
Allied ministries sit on the next list. A Nanjing hide is a shared problem.
Watch 'paying customers include MSS and the PLA.' That sentence is the whole case.
I cannot take a USB home. They rented a router kit and walked the Fed.
NIH on that list is my kids' file. A stolen clinic record is not an abstraction.
This is the same war as the chips and the ports. Keep Blanche on the hunt.
Just the News printed QScan, QTRouter, QTFY, Nanjing, MSS, PLA, and the agency list. Argue those nouns.
Keep the seizures. Name the company. Stop letting a hide kit sit on a .gov door.