Major US Counter-Hack Disables China Botnet in Critical Infrastructure

The FBI says it has foiled attempts by a Chinese government-sponsored hacking ring to conceal its preparations for attacks on American critical infrastructure.

The operation, green lit by court order last month, "disrupted a botnet of hundreds of U.S.-based small office/home office (SOHO) routers hijacked by People's Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored hackers", according to a press statement from the agency Wednesday.

The attack was carried out by a state-sponsored, China-based group of hackers known as "Volt Typhoon," also known as "Bronze Silhouette," that has been active in the U.S. since at least mid-2021.

Volt Typhoon used SOHO routers that they'd infected with "KV Botnet" malware to mask the origin of China-based hacking activities, which included targeting critical infrastructure, the agency said, without specifying what types of infrastructure were at risk.