Federal authorities announced Tuesday that they have erased Chinese malware from thousands of computers across the United States.

To retrieve information from and send commands to the hacked machines, the malware connects to a command-and-control server that is operated by the hacking group. According to the FBI, at least 45,000 IP addresses in the US had back-and-forths with the command-and-control server since September 2023.

The FBI says it was authorized to mass-remove “PlugX” malware from more than 4,000 compromised machines in the United States

The FBI said today that it removed Chinese malware from 4,258 US-based computers and networks by sending commands that forced the malware to use its "self-delete" function.

The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday that it has deleted malware planted on more than 4,200 computers by a group of criminal hackers who were backed by the People's Republic of China.

The FBI worked with French law enforcement to squash a variant of the PlugX malware that spreads through USB drives.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that the FBI has deleted Chinese PlugX malware from over 4,200 computers in networks across the United States.

The US has again taken court-approved action to remove malware from privately-held internet-connected computers across the country, part of an effort by a number of countries to combat infections of a version of the PlugX malware from a Chinese-based group that has infected thousands of Windows machines around the world.

The FBI has gained court approval to put an end to the PlugX malware in the U.S., which has affected over 2.5 million devices globally by infiltrating infected USB drives.The Latest Tech News, Deliver

Malicious software is just one of the ways hackers can steal data or cause damage to your electronic devices, but two federal agencies undertook major steps to combat it.