The FBI is investigating Chinese government-linked cyber spies breaking into the infrastructure of US telecom companies, as reports suggest Salt Typhoon – the same crew believed to be behind these hacks – has also targeted phones belonging to people linked to the US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. , along with Republican candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance.
On Friday, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said they “immediately notified affected companies, provided technical assistance and quickly shared information to help other potential victims.”
The warning from US government agencies does not name the affected companies, but previous news stories say they do Verizon, AT&T and Lumen Technologies.
All three have so far declined to comment The Register both about the investigation and about the alleged infringements in which Salt Typhoon allegedly hacked into the broadband providers’ eavesdropping systems.
US lawmakers have since done so demanded that the three companies answer questions about when they discovered the Chinese spies on their networks and what they are doing to better secure their systems.
“The investigation is ongoing and we encourage any organization that believes it may be a victim to contact its local FBI field office or CISA,” Friday’s security advisory continued. “Agencies across the U.S. government are working together to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defenses in the commercial communications sector.”
The government investigation comes as U.S. news media report that the PRC-affiliated group is also snooping on the phones of both U.S. presidential candidates and other politicians.
According to The New York Times, Republican candidate and former US President Donald Trump, along with his vice presidential candidate JD Vance, were both made aware that Salt Typhoon had attacked their phones after infiltrating Verizon’s systems.
Moreover, so have people associated with Vice President Kamala Harris, who is a Democratic presidential candidate focused by the same group of hackers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Times reported that several prominent Democrats in Congress, including staff of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), were also among those whose devices may have been compromised.
It is unclear what the cyber sniffers stole during the espionage operations.
At this point in the investigation, Salt Typhoon is believed to have attacked or compromised at least several dozen businesses and people.
“They are mocking us,” one person involved in the response told the WSJ, adding that this hacking operation marked a “new frontier” in the Chinese government’s cyber activities against the US.
Moreover, it follows a serious increase in cyber attacks that both the government and private investigators have linked to the People’s Republic of China.
Last month, FBI Director Christopher Wray said said that US law enforcement disrupted a 260,000-device botnet controlled by China’s Flax Typhoon.
On at least two occasions in the past year, as recently as August and then originally in February, another cyber espionage ring has Voltyphonewas spotted sniffing on US networks and through critical infrastructure as they prepare”disruptive or destructive cyber attacks.”
For its part, China has repeatedly denied these accusations and claimed that Volt Typhoon is a disaster invention of the US and its allies. ®