Cyber hacking tools associated with the Chinese government have been intercepted by the FBI. Authorities and the Department of Justice have swooped in to seize vulnerability scanning equipment and phishing tools that would otherwise power cyber operations across the United States.
Cyber attackers were denied access to two hacking tools, “Microscan” and “FishHub, used to breach foreign critical infrastructure systems, after a state ordered crackdown.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg commented that the United States will not tolerate China working against them with impunity in cyberspace.
“These state-sponsored hackers continue to aggressively target and access networks and systems throughout the world in an effort to identify and steal files and otherwise exploit victims’ vulnerabilities,” said U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti for the Western District of Pennsylvania. “These seizures, our second disruption of Integrity Tech’s massive operations in as many years, send another clear message to cybercriminals from the PRC and elsewhere of the Department’s dedication to defending and maintaining cybersecurity in the United States and abroad.”
According to court documents, Integrity Tech created and used a botnet of internet-of-things devices infected with a variant of Mirai malware. Among other things, this botnet facilitated Integrity Tech’s computer vulnerability scanning using Microscan. Integrity Tech developed Microscan to conduct reconnaissance, via the botnet and otherwise, of victim computer networks for vulnerabilities that its clients would later exploit.
