FBI removes dangerous Chinese malware from 4,200 PCs | Cybersecurity

At a time when cybersecurity is making headlines almost daily, here's a story that's truly out of the ordinary: After France which did the same thingTHE FBI has just finalized a particularly daring operation, namely legally hacking more than 4,200 computers… to protect them!

At the heart of this matter is PlugXA malware particularly sneaky initially developed in 2008 by front companies linked to the Chinese Ministry of State Security. This little digital monster has a chilling peculiarity: it spreads via USB ports, a bit like those viruses that passed from floppy disk to floppy disk in the 90s. Except that here, we're talking about a data protection tool. ultra-sophisticated espionage capable of taking total control of your machine.

The group behind this malware, called Mustang Pandaworks directly for the Chinese government. Their specialty is infiltrating the systems of government organizations, private companies and activist groups around the world. Thus, since 2014, they have notably targeted European shipping companies, several European governments, Chinese dissident groups and numerous Asia-Pacific countries.