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  ...