DOJ Walks Back Claim China Hacked Agencies

The Justice Department has walked back its claim that Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached a list of US government agencies, saying Friday the agencies were only targeted.

A freshly edited press release now says the US Senate, the Federal Reserve, NASA and others were "among the targets of QTFY," a Chinese spy platform US officials named Wednesday during an internet domain seizure operation. The earlier version had called those agencies victims.

A note at the bottom of the revised statement says: "Edits have been made to ensure this press release accurately reflects the government's allegations in the affidavit in support of the domain seizures."

Why It Matters

The change narrows the scope of what the government says it can actually prove. Being targeted by a foreign intelligence operation is routine for federal networks. Being breached is not.

The Justice Department said it corrected the August 26 release because that version "described all agencies as victims whereas the government's affidavit made clear that all were targeted but only some were compromised."

Reuters reported it could not immediately establish which specific agencies the government now believes were merely targeted and which were actually breached.