US Officials Walk Back Claims of Chinese Hacks on Government Agencies, Clarifying They Were ”Targets”
US officials have retracted previous claims that several government agencies were successfully hacked by Chinese spies, now clarifying that the institutions were merely targets of the cyber intrusion efforts.
In a recently amended statement on Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) stated that the US Senate, the Federal Reserve, NASA, and others were "among the targets of QTFY," a Chinese espionage platform exposed by officials on Wednesday during an internet domain seizure operation.
A prior version of the release had explicitly listed the government agencies as victims of the hackers.
A note appended to the bottom of the newly revised statement read: "Modifications were made to ensure this press release accurately reflects the government's allegations outlined in the affidavit supporting the domain seizures."
The DOJ explained on Friday that it issued the correction because the original August 26 press release "described all agencies as victims, whereas the government's affidavit clarified that all were targeted, but only some were successfully compromised."