"The government’s malware disabling commands, which interacted with the malware’s native functionality, were extensively tested prior to the operation," according to the DOJ.

U.S. authorities have thwarted another China-backed botnet, freeing hundreds of thousands of infected devices in the process, FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

The group was run by a Chinese company that ‘collected intelligence and performed reconnaissance for Chinese government security agencies’.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. law enforcement has disrupted a second major Chinese hacking group nicknamed "Flax Typhoon," FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Wednesday, wresting thousands of compromised devices from its grasp.

Flax Typhoon is said to have targeted critical infrastructure, corporations, media organizations, universities and government agencies.

The FBI, NSA and other U.S. government agencies detailed a Chinese-government operation that used 260,000 of internet-connected devices to launch cyberattacks.