According to reports, the target of the cyberattack was US headquarters of Equifax.

Four members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) plundered credit card details, passwords and telephone numbers as part of the biggest state-sponsored theft of individuals’ private data yet uncovered, The Times reported.

The Beijing-based hackers, who were identified by the FBI last week, sought to hide their tracks by exploiting a network of computers in almost 20 countries, including Holland and Switzerland, reported the newspaper.