Washington: The Secret Service said on Monday that Chinese hackers have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars of US COVID relief benefits since 2020.
The Secret Service declined to provide any additional details but confirmed a report by NBC News that the Chinese hacking team allegedly responsible is known within the security research community as APT41 or Vinti. .
APT41 is a prolific cybercriminal group that, according to experts, carried out a mix of government-backed cyber intrusions and financially motivated data breaches.
Several members of the hacking group were indicted by the US Department of Justice in 2019 and 2020 for spying on more than 100 companies, including software development companies, telecommunications providers, social media firms and video game developers.
Former Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said at the time, “Sadly, the Chinese Communist Party has chosen a different path to make China safe for cybercriminals, as long as they attack computers outside China and steal intellectual property.” Steal property.”
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Christopher Bing; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Disclaimer: This report is generated automatically from Reuters news service. ThePrint is not responsible for its content.