US Imposes Sanctions Against Beijing-Based Cybersecurity Firm Amid Alleged Ties to Chinese Hacking Group

US sanctions Chinese cyber firm linked to Flax Typhoon hacks

The U.S. government has sanctioned a Beijing-based cybersecurity company over its alleged links to a China government-backed hacking group, tracked as Flax Typhoon. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the sanctions against Integrity Technology Group for its role in “multiple computer intrusion incidents against U.S. victims,” including U.S. critical infrastructure.

The sanctions land months after the U.S. government accused Integrity Technology, also known as Yongxin Zhicheng, of running a botnet associated with Flax Typhoon. The botnet, which was dismantled by the FBI in a court-authorized operation in September, consisted of more than 260,000 internet-connected devices, including cameras, storage devices, and routers.

The Treasury Department stated that Flax Typhoon used infrastructure linked to Integrity Tech to compromise multiple U.S. and European organizations between mid-2022 and late-2023. The hacking victims were not named, but the Treasury added that Flax Typhoon compromised “multiple servers and workstations at a California-based entity.”

In its statement, the Treasury called Chinese malicious actors “one of the most active and most persistent threats” facing U.S. national security, referencing the targeting of its own IT infrastructure.

Integrity Tech is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, but it did not respond to TechCrunch’s inquiries regarding the sanctions.

Source: techcrunch.com