The FBI and French authorities conducted an international operation to remotely delete Chinese malware used by Beijing-linked hackers to steal data from thousands of U.S., European, and Asian computer networks,

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

The Department of Justice and the FBI have completed a project to remotely remove malware used by Chinese hackers from computers in the US.

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

The FBI and international partners sent a self-destruct command to PlugX malware French cybersecurity firms and law enforcement agents, together with partners from the United States, have successfully removed Chinese-built malware from thousands of infected PCs.