FBI Stops Chinese Hacking Group ‘Flax Typhoon’

U.S. law enforcement has taken down another major Chinese hacking group called “Flax Typhoon” and regained control of thousands of devices that had been hacked, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray.

At a cybersecurity conference in Washington, Wray explained that Flax Typhoon was run by a Chinese company called the Integrity Technology Group. Although it pretended to be an IT company, it was actually collecting information and spying for Chinese government security agencies.

This information was confirmed by officials from the U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, who said that by June, the group had hacked over 250,000 devices worldwide.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington disputed the allegations, accusing the United States of fabricating false accusations and stressing that China combats all types of cyberattacks.

Flax Typhoon is the second big Chinese hacker organization to voice concerns. Another organization, “Volt Typhoon,” was uncovered last year, with the goal of attacking major U.S.

infrastructure. While U.S. officials say these groups are backed by China, Beijing claims they are just ransomware gangs.

The FBI’s recent operation against Flax Typhoon, which occurred last week, is part of ongoing efforts to disrupt China’s botnet networks. According to Wray, the gang was targeting corporations, media, universities, and government agencies, in addition to key infrastructure.

Flax Typhoon used a “botnet,” or a network of hijacked devices including cameras and storage systems, to mask their attacks. When the FBI sought to take over the botnet, the hackers launched a cyberattack before giving up.