FBI seizes websites used by Flax Typhoon for cyber espionage

The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice have seized seven websites used by the cyber mercenary group Flax Typhoon to facilitate global cyber espionage. The operation, conducted in Pennsylvania, has successfully cut off access to the Microscan and FishHub platforms, which were used to target critical infrastructure worldwide.

Investigations revealed that the Beijing-linked collective utilized tools managed by the Integrity Technology Group, a private company that provided turnkey hacking services to state actors. The Microscan scanner specifically leveraged a network of compromised IoT devices via the Mirai virus to automatically test over 1,300 known vulnerabilities on unpatched servers. Seven allied governments issued a joint alert regarding this outsourcing of cyber espionage activities.