Microsoft seizes dozens of websites used by China-based hacking group

Microsoft following a court order seized dozens of websites that a China-based hacking group was using for a cyber-espionage campaign against organizations in the US and 28 other countries.

"We believe these attacks were largely being used for intelligence gathering from government agencies, think tanks and human rights organizations," CNN quoted corporate vice president at Microsoft Tom Burt as saying in a blog post.

The action taken by Microsoft is part of a broader effort by US tech companies and government agencies to expose sophisticated digital espionage campaigns before they do too much damage, the American publication said further.

Declining to publically identify organisations targetted on the newly revealed hacking campaign, the tech firm said that Chinese hackers had a history of trying to gather sensitive data from diplomatic organizations and foreign affairs ministries across North and South America, and in Europe and Africa.

The Chinese hackers in 2017 breached a UK government contractor in search of information on military technology.According to the security firm that had responded to the incident, the hackers stole "sensitive documents" in the process.

The mobile security firm Lookout last year linked the hacking group to malware found on the mobile phones of Uyghurs. Notably, the West has accused the Communist regime of committing genocide against Uyghurs, according to CNN.