At least $20 million was allegedly stolen from the US government by Chinese hackers linked to the Chinese Communist Party by taking advantage of COVID-19 relief money.
The APT41 organization, according to the Secret Service, allegedly acquired the illegal payouts through SBA loans and unemployment insurance.
There are at least 1,000 ongoing investigations into domestic and foreign attempts to deceive the US government using COVID-19 systems, according to a statement from the Secret Service to NBC News, which withheld specifics.
Chinese Hackers Are Linked To The Government
According to the Secret Service, the Chengdu-based hacking group APT41 is responsible for cybercrime. These authorities and specialists informed the publication that additional federal investigations into pandemic fraud appear to similarly link foreign-state hackers. It wouldn’t be the first time that hackers associated with the Chinese government have put other nations’ security at risk.
The government has recovered nearly half of the stolen assets. The theft associated with APT41 encompassed 2,000 accounts and more than 40,000 bank transactions. If the hackers continued access to state government networks after being found, officials could not confirm it.
Even though it is unclear whether the Chinese government deliberately ordered the intrusions or simply let them happen, American security officials say the theft is a significant development with consequences for national security.
Read more: What Legal and Illegal Methods of Income Do Hackers Use?
US Officials Warned Since The Start Of The Pandemic
The Secret Service’s Roy Dotson, who also serves as a liaison to other federal organizations looking into Covid fraud, said that it would be insane to believe that this group didn’t target all 50 states.
According to Rachel Greszler, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, who testified before the Senate last year, her analysis of the Department of Labor’s data shows that UI programs sent out 1.365 billion weekly benefit checks. That is, between April 2020 and May 2021, when covering 100% of all unemployed workers, an optimistic goal of the UI expansions would have required only 807 million benefit checks.
So, more than 557 million UI checks and $357 billion in taxpayer funds were given to people who weren’t unemployed, most likely criminals.
Cybersecurity organizations also refer to ATP41 as Wicked Panda, Barium, and Winnti. Unemployment insurance benefits were not only abused by some people.
However, they also became a high-value, easily accessible target for criminals due to placing an unusually high dollar value on them. That makes them available for three times as long, as usual, widening eligibility and reducing verification requirements, Greszler claimed.
US officials warned at the start of the pandemic that hackers would employ several methods to collect personal and financial information from unaware victims.
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