The Department of Justice says it has disrupted an long-running campaign by China-backed hackers to access computer systems for at least seven federal agencies or institutions.

Affected entities include NASA, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, the Justice Department and the U.S. Senate.

According to a newly released federal affidavit, the state-sponsored group sold services to Chinese government entities including the Ministry of State Security and the People’s Liberation Army.

U.S. federal investigators seized two hacking platforms that it believes were sponsored by China. The tools were used to automatically infect internet-connected devices and obscure the origin points of malicious actors.

“Today we announced the disruption of a global botnet and hacking platform used by Chinese state-sponsored hackers to target U.S. critical infrastructure,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “These tools were used by PRC cyber actors to hide the origin of their attacks.”

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The DOJ says four other unnamed companies in South Korea were also targeted in the hacking attempts.

The state-backed hacking activity has gone on for years, with some access attempts dating back to 2018. Attacks had varying levels of success. One in 2019 failed to gain access to NASA networks, while other attempts to infiltrate Energy Department and NIH networks in 2024 were more successful.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington shared the following statement with Scripps News:

“I am not aware of the specifics you mentioned. China is a firm defender of cybersecurity. The Chinese government firmly opposes and combats all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with the law. We urge the US side to stop using cybersecurity issues to smear or discredit China. China firmly opposes the U.S. overstretching the concept of national security and using it as a pretext to impose discriminatory restrictions on Chinese companies and will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”