Hackers Linked to Chinese Government , Stole Millions in COVID-19 Relief Benefits.<br />The Secret Service told NBC News that <br />APT41, a Chengdu-based hacking group <br />linked to the Chinese government.<br />stole at least $20 million from <br />American COVID relief benefits. .<br />NBC News reports that it is the first publicly acknowledged instance of pandemic fraud related to "foreign, state-sponsored cybercriminals.".<br />However, experts say other pandemic fraud investigations around the country also appear to <br />be linked to foreign, state-sponsored actors.<br />It would be crazy to think this group didn’t target all 50 states, Roy Dotson, national pandemic fraud recovery <br />coordinator for the Secret Service, via statement.<br />It is unclear whether the Chinese government ordered the hackers to steal the money <br />or if it just looked the other way.<br />I’ve never seen them target government money before. <br />That would be an escalation, John Hultquist, the head of intelligence analysis at the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, via statement.<br />The United States is target No. 1, because we are competitor No. 1. It’s a really comprehensive, multi-decade, well-considered, well-resourced, well-planned, well-executed strategy, Ambassador Nathaniel Fick, the head of the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, via statement.<br />NBC News reports that billions have been stolen in the U.S. and around the world via the Paycheck Protection Program and unemployment insurance.<br />In August, the Secret Service said it <br />recovered $286 million of those funds.
