Hackers Linked to Chinese Government , Stole Millions in COVID-19 Relief Benefits.
The Secret Service told NBC News that APT41, a Chengdu-based hacking group linked to the Chinese government.
Stole at least $20 million from American COVID relief benefits.
.
NBC News reports that it is the first publicly acknowledged instance of pandemic fraud related to "foreign, state-sponsored cybercriminals.".
However, experts say other pandemic fraud investigations around the country also appear to be linked to foreign, state-sponsored actors.
It would be crazy to think this group didn’t target all 50 states, Roy Dotson, national pandemic fraud recovery coordinator for the Secret Service, via statement.
It is unclear whether the Chinese government ordered the hackers to steal the money or if it just looked the other way.
I’ve never seen them target government money before.
That would be an escalation, John Hultquist, the head of intelligence analysis at the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, via statement.
The United States is target No.
1, because we are competitor No.
1.
It’s a really comprehensive, multi-decade, well-considered, well-resourced, well-planned, well-executed strategy, Ambassador Nathaniel Fick, the head of the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, via statement.
NBC News reports that billions have been stolen in the U.S. and around the world via the Paycheck Protection Program and unemployment insurance.
In August, the Secret Service said it recovered $286 million of those funds.
