US officials backpedal on claims that gov agencies were hacked
Key points
- US officials have walked back claims that several government agencies were hacked by Chinese spies, now calling them targets rather than victims.
- The Justice Department’s edited statement says the US Senate, the Federal Reserve, NASA, and others were among the targets of QTFY, a Chinese spy platform.
- Reuters could not confirm which agencies were actually breached versus merely targeted, and the Justice Department, FBI, and CISA have not responded.
US officials are backpedalling on claims that several government agencies were hacked by Chinese spies, now saying that the organizations were among the hackers’ targets.
In a freshly edited statement, the US Justice Department said that the US Senate, the Federal Reserve, NASA, and others were “among the targets of QTFY,” a Chinese spy platform that officials called out during an internet domain seizure operation.
A previous version of statement said the government agencies had been among the hackers’ victims.
A note left at the bottom of the newly edited statement said that “edits have been made to ensure this press release accurately reflects the government’s allegations in the affidavit in support of the domain seizures.”
Reuters could not immediately establish which specific agencies the government now believed had been targeted and which ones had been breached.
Messages seeking clarification from the Justice Department, the FBI, and CISA were not immediately returned.
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