Chinese language hackers stole thousands and thousands of COVID reduction cash from US, Secret Service says

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Chinese language hackers have stolen tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} from U.S. COVID reduction advantages since 2020, the Secret Service mentioned on Monday.

The Secret Service declined to offer additional particulars, however confirmed an NBC Information report that the Chinese language hacking staff believed to be accountable is understood within the safety analysis group as APT41 or Winnti.

APT41 is a prolific cybercriminal group that has carried out a mixture of government-backed cyber intrusions and financially motivated information breaches, consultants say.

A number of members of the hacking group had been indicted in 2019 and 2020 by the US Division of Justice for spying on greater than 100 corporations, together with software program growth corporations, telecommunications suppliers, social media corporations and builders of video video games.

“Sadly, the Chinese language Communist Get together has chosen a special path to make China protected for cybercriminals so long as they assault computer systems outdoors of China and steal mental property helpful to China,” the previous mentioned on the time. Deputy Legal professional Basic Jeffrey Rosen.

The Chinese language Embassy in Washington mentioned in an announcement that China has all the time “firmly opposed and suppressed all types of cyber theft and hacking”, and opposed “baseless accusations” towards the nations by way of cybersecurity.

Reporting by Christopher Bing and Michael Martina; Modifying by Sandra Maler and Chizu Nomiyama

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