FBI seizes Chinese hacking tools used for cyberattacks on critical U.S. infrastructure

The FBI has seized scanning and phishing tools used by a group of hackers that officials say is associated with the Chinese government and is believed responsible for disruptive cyber operations in the United States and abroad, including against the power industry, academia and critical infrastructure.The seizure of the tools, announced Thursday by the FBI and Justice Department, represents the latest law enforcement effort in recent years to go after a broad-based hacking campaign known to the private sector as Flax Typhoon.The tools at issue, called “Microscan” and “FishHub,” were used by the hackers to scan, phish and hack targets that included U.S. and foreign critical infrastructure, officials said. Microscan was used to target, among other entities, an unnamed power company in the U.S., Japanese and Polish airports, Taiwanese universities, a multinational, nongovernmental organization and Taiwanese critical infrastructure companies. And “FishHub” facilitated phishing activity that gave hackers remote access to victim networks, the FBI said.The latest operation has rendered the tools inoperable in what FBI and Justice Department officials said was a blow to the hacking operat…