The DoJ has remotely cleaned thousands of computers infected with Chinese malware

The Department of Justice and the FBI shared today that they have completed an operation to remove malware used by Chinese hackers on US computers. The trial was a court-ordered merger that removed the PlugX malware from more than 4,200 computers. The agencies will notify US owners of affected machines through their Internet service providers.

According to the DOJ Press releasehacking groups known as Mustang Panda and Twill Typhoon received support from the Chinese government to use PlugX to hack, control and collect information from computers outside of China. The operation to remove the PlugX malware from US computers began in August 2024. This was done in cooperation with the French police and Sekoia.io, a French cybersecurity company. Sekoia.io has detected more than PlugX malware 170 countries.

The Mustang Panda team has been conducting experiments around the world since at least 2014. For example, the Internet security company ESET. found that Mustang Panda found the computers of shipping companies in Norway, Greece and the Netherlands in March. And the group was one of several Chinese-linked hacking organizations known to disrupt telecommunications networks across the Asia-Pacific region. reports last summer.