US officials backpedal on claims that government agencies were hacked by Chinese, now say they were targets


FILE PHOTO: U.S. and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration taken March 20, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - U.S. ⁠officials are backpedaling on claims that several ‌government agencies were hacked by Chinese spies, now saying that the organizations were among the hackers' targets.

In ​a freshly edited statement, the ⁠Justice Department said ⁠Friday that the U.S. Senate, the Federal Reserve, ⁠NASA, ‌and others were "among the targets of QTFY," a Chinese spy platform ⁠that officials called out on Wednesday during ​a internet ‌domain seizure operation.

A previous version of statement ⁠said ​the government agencies had been among the hackers' victims.

A note left at the bottom of ⁠the newly edited statement said ​that "Edits have been made to ensure this press release accurately reflects the government’s allegations in the ⁠affidavit in support of the domain seizures."

Reuters could not immediately establish which specific agencies the government now believed had been targeted ​and which ones had ⁠been breached. Messages seeking clarification from the Justice ​Department, the FBI, and ‌CISA were not immediately returned ​on Friday.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter, Editing by Franklin Paul and Chizu Nomiyama)

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