US seizes domains of Chinese botnet used to hack NASA, Justice Department, and the Senate
News Source
β’Wed, 26 Aug 2026 17:01:05 +0000
π° What Happened
US officials say the FBI has taken over a group of domains used by a large botnet to run China-linked attacks on many US targets. The government says the botnet, tied to a named firm, used thousands of hacked internet tools to hide the path of attacks. The spots date back to 2018 and cover NASA, the Federal Reserve, and several US agencies, and the file talks also say the Senate was touched as late as 2026.
Seizure of the domains cuts the botnet in two ways. Since the domains were in the botnet's own code, taking away the network-role and its run servers. The government says this makes the bot hard to use, and the net firm Lumen says it watched the same web. With the domains down, the report says the group and its staff can no longer direct the machines in the old way.
π The Backstory
A bot is a tool for hiding who is behind an attack. It takes thousands of broken internet machines, and its keep the true source of the breach secret. Taking away the spots the bot looks to a known weak point, since the sites live-inside the code and the bot among them.
The move is one part of a larger project to end the tools of foreign spies, not to note a single win. Naming the staff that run it helps key stripe and shows that the US will close the devices used to hit NASA, the Federal Reserve and the Senate. It is a strong sign that this kind of act is being taken to a known and fragile place.
π― Why It Matters
US removal of a Chinese-linked bot's nerves, which touched NASA and the Senate, sends a strong sign of push on the tools behind state hackers and may try the operation at a time when the danger is very high.
US officials say the FBI has taken over a group of domains used by a large botnet to run China-linked attacks on many US targets. The government says the botnet, tied to a named firm, used thousands of hacked internet tools to hide the path of attacks. The spots date back to 2018 and cover NASA, the Federal Reserve, and several US agencies, and the file talks also say the Senate was touched as late as 2026.
Seizure of the domains cuts the botnet in two ways. Since the domains were in the botnet's own code, taking away the network-role and its run servers. The government says this makes the bot hard to use, and the net firm Lumen says it watched the same web. With the domains down, the report says the group and its staff can no longer direct the machines in the old way.
A bot is a tool for hiding who is behind an attack. It takes thousands of broken internet machines, and its keep the true source of the breach secret. Taking away the spots the bot looks to a known weak point, since the sites live-inside the code and the bot among them.
The move is one part of a larger project to end the tools of foreign spies, not to note a single win. Naming the staff that run it helps key stripe and shows that the US will close the devices used to hit NASA, the Federal Reserve and the Senate. It is a strong sign that this kind of act is being taken to a known and fragile place.
US removal of a Chinese-linked bot's nerves, which touched NASA and the Senate, sends a strong sign of push on the tools behind state hackers and may try the operation at a time when the danger is very high.