China-linked hackers reportedly penetrated the U.S. communications surveillance system network unnoticed for 18 months and collected data on more than 1 million people, but the full extent of their prank is still unclear. do not have.
Beginning in mid-2023, nefarious cyber intruders, part of a hacker group known as Salt Typhoons with ties to Chinese intelligence, infiltrated systems used for surveillance by Verizon, AT&T, and court-backed surveillance. . The Wall Street Journal reported.
The latter system reportedly involved individuals whom the U.S. government suspects to be Chinese agents.
The report claimed that the hackers infiltrated one U.S. communications network for 18 months and another company's network for six months, although it did not specify which companies.
During that time, hackers targeted calls and phone lines associated with President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and individuals in their orbit.
According to the report, the hackers were particularly focused on telecommunications originating from Washington, D.C., and were able to obtain a treasure trove of IP addresses, phone numbers and other information for more than 1 million people in total.
“[This was] “This is the worst communications hack ever in the history of our country,” said an anonymous senator. washington post About last year's hack.
Surprisingly, after cybercriminals were identified, they changed their tactics and became more complex to detect and stop, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Reports say they were still hiding in some companies' eavesdropping systems as of October, even after the public learned about the intrusion.
While infiltrating the network, the intruder imitated the systems engineer and attempted to hide his activities and blend into the network. But authorities were eventually able to observe the hackers transmitting the stolen data around the world before bringing it to China.
“We witnessed a large amount of data being taken,” an FBI official told the outlet.
Chinese officials deny responsibility.
“Some people in the United States seem to be keen on creating different types of typhoons,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, told the outlet.
“The United States needs to stop its own cyberattacks against other countries and refrain from using cybersecurity to defame or smear China.”
AT&T, meanwhile, claims there is no evidence to suggest that foreign attackers have infiltrated its network at this time, while Verizon claims it has “contained activity related to this specific incident.” .
National security experts seem less convinced, with some reports suggesting the scope of the breach is so sophisticated that the U.S. may never be confident that the hackers have been eliminated. He says he is thinking about it.
Leading U.S. officials have begun favoring encrypted lines from traditional phone calls and text messages from private apps like Signal as a way to protect against similar attacks.
China-linked hackers exploited aging U.S. communications equipment to penetrate cyber defenses
“It's shocking that we have been and continue to be so exposed,” Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said at a Senate hearing last month, explaining the attack he received. He lamented that it was “breathtaking”.
Last month, Treasury officials informed Congress that Chinese government-backed attackers had successfully compromised some workstations and obtained “unclassified” documents.
Until now, China was thought to be primarily obsessed with acquiring U.S. trade secrets to gain economic advantage. However, recent breaches have highlighted how keen the Chinese Communist Party is to use cyber warfare to gain advantage in the geopolitical realm.
In the fall of 2023, key U.S. officials scrambled to thwart a Chinese-backed attack that could infiltrate critical infrastructure, knock out power grids and tamper with U.S. ports.
Ultimately, government officials were able to flag some of the compromised systems and neutralize some of the malicious software.
