FBI Warns Chinese Hackers Use Automated Tools and Botnets to Steal Sensitive Data

The FBI and international partners issued a joint advisory attributing large-scale espionage operations to China-linked Integrity Technology Group; operators use automated scanners (Nmap, masscan, MicroScan), web exploitation and XSS, password-spraying (EBurst), custom malware (DiagTrack.exe) and AD theft (DC.exe/DCSync) to collect emails and credentials, maintain persistence via VPN clients, and exfiltrate data to attacker infrastructure—mitigations include patching, disabling unused services, MFA, investigating AD replication and suspicious VPNs, and validating historical IOCs.