On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed that the FBI had successfully disrupted the operations of a second major Chinese hacking group, dubbed “Flax Typhoon.” Wray made the announcement during his address at the Aspen Cyber Summit, outlining the ongoing battle against Chinese cyber threats.
According to Wray, Flax Typhoon had compromised thousands of devices, which were being used as part of a botnet to route malicious cyber traffic. Many of these compromised devices were located in the U.S. and included cameras and storage devices from various organizations. Wray explained that the FBI’s intervention managed to stop the group’s activities, though not before the hackers attempted a counterattack through a DDOS attack.
Flax Typhoon is reportedly controlled by Integrity Technology Group, a company Wray identified as working covertly for Chinese government security agencies under the guise of an IT firm. This revelation mirrors the discovery of “Volt Typhoon,” another Chinese hacking group that was uncovered last year, which had infiltrated critical American infrastructure sectors such as telecommunications, energy, and water.
Wray also connected the hacking group’s actions to growing U.S.-China tensions, particularly regarding Taiwan, an issue that has escalated cyber activities. He reiterated that combating Chinese cyber espionage remains a high priority for the FBI, which continues to face new threats in the ongoing cyber conflict.
The Chinese government, however, has denied involvement, with officials claiming that these hacking groups are merely criminal entities with no government ties.
