FBI Director Wray Says His Agency Has Disrupted Second Chinese Hacking

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FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks during an Election Threats Task Force meeting at the Justice Department on September 4, 2024 in Washington, DC. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who launched the task force three years ago after a steep increase in violent threats to election workers, reaffirmed his commitment to safeguarding election workers domestically and also announced two actions against Russia for attempted covert influence operations. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:52 AM – Wednesday, September 18, 2024

FBI Director Christopher Wray has announced that they have disrupted a second major Chinese hacking group, who goes by the name “Flax Typhoon.”

On Wednesday, Wray spoke at the Aspen Cyber Summit in Washington, D.C., where he said that the U.S. agency stopped a second Chinese hacking group’s ongoing efforts while recovering thousands of compromised devices in what he described as “just one round in a much longer fight.”

He also noted that Flax Typhoon was being controlled by a larger Chinese company called “Integrity Technology Group.”

“The company collected intelligence and performed reconnaissance for Chinese government security agencies while posing as an IT firm,” Wray said.

According to Wray, Flax Typhoon routed “malicious traffic” through a network of hijacked devices known as “a botnet.”

In this case, the devices included cameras and digital storage devices, which Wray said are commonly found in both large and small organizations. He added that half of the compromised devices were located in the United States.

As the FBI Cyber Action Team attempted to gain control of the botnet, the hackers launched a DDOS cyber attack before abandoning it.

According to Wray, Flax Typhoon operates similarly to a previously discovered hacking group known as “Volt Typhoon,” which came to light last year and has since been a source of concern.

In April, Wray said that Volt Typhoon had embedded itself in multiple American critical infrastructure companies involved with telecommunications, energy and water, and more.

Google security experts, along with Microsoft, have previously linked the Volt Typhoon to China. Wray stated that the effort is connected to U.S.-Chinese tensions surrounding Taiwan.

However, earlier this year, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that Volt Typhoon is part of a criminal ransomware group and has “no ties to the government.”

Wray reiterated at the summit that handling Chinese hacking groups is always an ongoing priority for the FBI.

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