Chinese Hackers are Being Accused of Stealing COVID-19 Aid Funds from the US

JAKARTA – Hackers from China are accused of stealing tens of millions of dollars worth of COVID-19 aid funds from the US since 2020. This accusation came from the Secret Service, US, on Monday, December 5.

The Secret Service declined to provide additional details but confirmed a report by NBC News that said the team of Chinese hackers reportedly responsible were known in the security research community as APT41 or Winnti.

According to experts, APT41 is a prolific group of cyber criminals who have carried out a mix of government-backed cyber intrusions and financially motivated data breaches.

Several members of the hacking group were indicted in 2019 and 2020 by the US Department of Justice for spying on more than 100 companies, including software development companies, telecommunications providers, social media companies and video game developers.

"Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party has chosen a different path to make China safe for cybercriminals as long as they attack computers outside of China and steal intellectual property that is useful to China," former US Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said at the time.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the media about the report.