Microsoft seizes control of websites used by China-backed hackers Microsoft has seized control of a number of websites that were being used by a Chinese-government backed hacking group to target organizations in 29 countries, including the U.S. Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit (DCI) said on Monday that a federal court in Virginia had granted an order allowing the company to take control of the websites and redirect the traffic to Microsoft servers. These malicious websites were being used by a state-sponsored hacking group known as Nickel, or APT15, to gather intelligence from government agencies, think tanks and human rights organizations, according...