U.S. government ‘took control’ of a botnet run by Chinese government hackers, says FBI director

The FBI dismantled a massive botnet of 260,000 compromised devices controlled by a Chinese government hacking group called Flax Typhoon. The botnet targeted critical infrastructure, corporations, universities, and government agencies across the U.S. and overseas. Using court-authorized operations, the FBI took control of the botnet's infrastructure and removed malware from affected devices. This action is part of ongoing U.S. efforts to counter China-backed cyberattacks amid warnings of potential "real-world harm" to Americans in future conflicts with China.