The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese hackers reportedly infiltrated the networks of major US telecom providers, including Verizon Communications, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies, accessing information from systems used by the federal government for court-authorized wiretapping.
The breach, discovered recently, exposed the networks of these telecom giants, with insiders suggesting that the intrusion had lasted for months. The intrusion allowed unauthorized access to infrastructure to fulfil US court-authorized requests for communications data and other internet traffic.
In response to these allegations, China’s foreign ministry stated on Sunday that it was unaware of the specific attack that had been reported. Still, it criticized the US for allegedly creating a “false narrative” to accuse China in the past. The ministry emphasized that such accusations hinder global efforts to tackle cybersecurity challenges through dialogue and cooperation, noting that cybersecurity is a universal concern that requires international collaboration.
China has consistently denied previous accusations from the US government and others about engaging hackers to penetrate foreign computer systems. In response to the report, Lumen Technologies chose not to comment, while Verizon and AT&T had not yet responded to inquiries at the time of reporting.
The Wall Street Journal noted that the cyber-attack was attributed to a Chinese hacking group seeking to gather intelligence, which US investigators have named “Salt Typhoon.” This revelation comes after US law enforcement disrupted another significant Chinese hacking operation earlier in the year, known as “Flax Typhoon,” which was part of a broader cyber espionage campaign dubbed “Volt Typhoon.”
Further complicating matters, China’s foreign ministry claimed that its cybersecurity units had uncovered and released evidence suggesting that “Volt Typhoon” was orchestrated by an international ransomware organization, challenging the narrative around these cybersecurity incidents.
