United States Department of Justice officials revised a statement issued August 26 regarding alleged Chinese state-sponsored hacking activity, making a clarification about the nature and extent of breaches at federal agencies.
The revised statement, released on Friday, now describes the Senate, Federal Reserve, NASA and other government organisations as “among the targets” of QTFY, a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group, rather than characterising them as victims of successful attacks. The Justice Department noted that the original version incorrectly “described all agencies as victims whereas the government’s affidavit made clear that all were targeted but only some were compromised.” This distinction narrows the scope of confirmed breaches and reflects the difference between targeting attempts and successful intrusions.
According to FBI affidavits accompanying the statements, Chinese actors have conducted a years-long cyber-espionage campaign against US government agencies, defence contractors and other targets since at least 2018. The targeted organisations include NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health and the US Senate. The affidavit noted that an attempted breach of NASA was unsuccessful because the agency had patched the targeted software. However, the affidavit also alleged that in September 2024, the hackers carried out successful “computer intrusions” at three DOE National Laboratories, NIH, an HHS agency, and a US security device manufacturer.
A joint cybersecurity advisory released earlier in the week by the FBI, National Security Agency and US Cyber Command identified successful data thefts from unnamed defence contractors, financial institutions and universities in May 2024, as well as unsuccessful attempts to access networks for the US Senate and a hospital in March 2026.
Chinese officials have not responded to requests for comment regarding the allegations. In response to the cybersecurity advisory issued earlier, a Chinese Embassy spokesperson characterised the US statements as attempts to “smear or discredit China” and stated that China opposes what it describes as overstretching the concept of national security.
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