United States officials have corrected earlier statements that several government agencies were attacked by Chinese hackers, now saying instead that the organizations were only among the hackers' targets.
In a newly edited statement on Friday, the US Department of Justice said that the Senate, the Federal Reserve, NASA and other agencies were "among the targets of QTFY", a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group. A previous version of the statement said the government agencies had been among the hackers' victims.
A note at the bottom of the newly revised statement says: "Edits have been made to ensure this press release accurately reflects the government's allegations in the affidavit in support of the domain seizures." The Justice Department said on Friday it made a correction because the August 26 release "described all agencies as victims whereas the government's affidavit made clear that all were targeted but only some were compromised".
The distinction matters because it narrows the scope of confirmed breaches. The Justice Department has accused Chinese actors of a years-long cyber-espionage campaign against US government agencies, defense contractors and other sensitive targets.
According to an FBI affidavit released alongside the original statement, the hackers have "targeted" US federal networks since at least 2018. Targets include NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US Senate.
A footnote in the affidavit said the FBI investigated the targeting of NASA and found the attempted breach was unsuccessful due to the agency's patching of targeted software. The affidavit alleges that in September 2024, the hackers carried out "computer intrusions" at three "DOE National Laboratories, NIH, an HHS agency, and a US security device manufacturer", referring to them as "victims".
A separate joint cybersecurity advisory issued by the FBI, NSA and US Cyber Command on Wednesday listed successful data thefts from unnamed defense contractors, financial institutions and universities in May 2024, and noted unsuccessful attempts to access networks of the US Senate and a hospital in March 2026.
Messages seeking clarification from the FBI and CISA were not immediately returned. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. In response to Wednesday's announcement, an embassy spokesperson said the US uses cybersecurity to "smear or discredit China", and that China opposes "the US overstretching the concept of national security" and will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights of Chinese companies.
Source: www.aljazeera.com