Chinese Government-linked Cyber Threat Actors Combine Automated and Hands-on Hacking Tools to Steal Sensitive Data

Advisory at a Glance Title Chinese Government-linked Cyber Threat Actors Combine Automated and Hands-on Hacking Tools to Steal Sensitive Data Original Publication October 8, 2026 Executive Summary Chinese government-linked cyber threat actors, enabled by the Integrity Technology Group, are combining automated scanning tools, large-scale botnets, and hands-on exploitation techniques to target and steal sensitive data from organizations worldwide, including US critical infrastructure sectors. These actors exploit vulnerabilities by using scanning tools, cross-site scripting attacks, and password spraying on Microsoft Exchange servers, while establishing persistence through VPN software and exfiltrating emails and credentials using scripts. To help mitigate against this activity, organizations should prioritize disabling unused services and ports, sanitizing web application inputs to prevent injection attacks, implementing multifactor authentication for all services, and applying timely patches to reduce risks of compromise. Affected Products CVE-2014-6278 CVE-2015-3306 CVE-2015-5477 CVE-2016-3081 CVE-2019-11510 CVE-2021-22205 CVE-2021-3199 CVE-2023-22894 Key Actions Disable unused services and ports, such as automatic configuration, remote access, or file sharing protocols. Sanitize user input in web applications to prevent possible cross-site scripting (XSS) payload injection. Implement identity, credential, and access management (ICAM) policies, and then require multifactor authentication (MFA) for services (to the extent possible). Indicators of Compromise For a downloadable copy of indicators of compromise, see: AA26-281A STIX XML AA26-281A STIX JSON Intended Audience Organizations: Government; Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB); State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT); Critical Infrastructure. Sectors: Government Services and Facilities, Critical Manufacturing, Healthcare and Public Health, and Information Technology. Roles: Defensive Cybersecurity Analysts, Vulnerability Analysts, Security Systems Managers, Incident Response Analysts Introduction Integrity Technology Group, a China-based company with links to the Chinese government, enables China-linked threat actors to exploit US and foreign organization networks across multiple sectors using various tools and techniques. This advisory provides an analysis of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and indicators of compromise (IOCs) from Integrity Technology Group and the threat actors they enable (hereafter referred to as “the threat actors”). The analysis in this advisory provides network defenders with detection and mitigation guidance to reduce the risk of threat actors compromising critical data. The threat actors use a unique combination of large-scale botnets, virtual private network (VPN) infrastructure, living-off-the-land (LOTL) techniques, and repositories of computer network exploitation (CNE) tools. Although these techniques are not unique to Chinese threat actors, this advisory details how the threat actors use them to support CNE activity. The threat actors targeted victims across multiple US critical infrastructure sectors, including: Government Services and Facilities, Critical Manufacturing, Healthcare and Public Health, and Information Technology. The actors also targeted victims in US law enforcement, education, and religious organizations, as well as organizations across Southeast Asia, Africa, and North America. The information in this advisory originates from technical evidence recovered from, and observed during, multiple Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigations related to Integrity Technology Group. The FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA), United Kingdom National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-UK), Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASD’s ACSC), the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre), Japan’s National Police Agency (NPA)