WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (KUNA) -- The US Justice Department and FBI announced on Tuesday a law enforcement operation that alongside international partners, deleted "PlugX" malware from thousands of infected computers worldwide.
As described in court documents unsealed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a group of hackers sponsored by the People's Republic of China (PRC), known to the private sector as "Mustang Panda" and "Twill Typhoon," used a version of PlugX malware to infect, control, and steal information from victim computers.
According to court documents, the PRC government paid the Mustang Panda group to, among other computer intrusion services, develop this specific version of PlugX.
Since at least 2014, Mustang Panda hackers then infiltrated thousands of computer systems in campaigns targeting US victims, as well as European and Asian governments and businesses, and Chinese dissident groups.
Despite previous cybersecurity reports, owners of computers still infected with PlugX are typically unaware of the infection.
"The Department of Justice prioritizes proactively disrupting cyber threats to protect US victims from harm, even as we work to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division.
"This operation, like other recent technical operations against Chinese and Russian hacking groups like Volt Typhoon, Flax Typhoon, and APT28, has depended on strong partnerships to successfully counter malicious cyber activity.
"I commend partners in the French government and private sector for spearheading this international operation to defend global cybersecurity," Olsen added. (end) rsr.mb