Cyber criminals connected to the Chinese authorities managed to get away with a total of $20 million from U.S. Coronavirus relief programs, which included subsidies for businesses and jobless benefits.
Chinese Cyber Criminals Stole $20 Million From U.S. Coronavirus Relief Programs
According to the Secret Service, the cybercrime was the deed of a hacking organization known as APT41 based in Chengdu. The US government uncovered significant fraud which was connected to APT41, involving 2000 accounts and 40,000 financial transactions.
NBC News reports that the authorities have been able to retrieve roughly half of the money that had been taken illicitly. It is not known if the Chinese government was the one to give the order for the cyberattacks, or if they just allowed it to happen, but American authorities think the stealing of data is a major issue that could affect national security.
Roy Dotson, who is tasked with dealing with such matters for the Security Service, had this to say: “It would be crazy to think this group didn’t target all 50 states.”
This is not the first time that the Chinese authorities have been accused of exploiting the pandemic. During the onset of the initial pandemic, Italy had played a major part in donating PPE, personal protective equipment, to China in order to ensure that it was not in short supply.
However, when the Italian authorities needed some themselves, there was no goodwill gesture in return. Instead, the Chinese authorities decided to make the Italians buy-back any PPE that they needed.
As such, this was seen as exploiting things at a time where it was a very difficult period across the globe. The response on social media was one of outrage.
A significant proportion of people demanded that some action be taken in order to hold the people responsible accountable. One person wrote: “F**k hackers.”
Time will tell if all the funds can end up being recovered. So there you have it folks. What did you think about this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
