Chinese Govt-Linked Hackers Infiltrate US Telecommunication Firms: Report

A group of highly skilled Chinese government-linked hackers has infiltrated multiple US telecommunications firms in the last several months, reported CNN. The hackers were likely in search of sensitive information bearing on national security, the report added, quoting multiple sources briefed on the matter. 

Investigators in the US believe that the hackers have potentially accessed wiretap warrant requests, and the officials are still working to ascertain what information the hackers may have obtained. 

Among the targets are US broadband and internet providers AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen, reported CNN. 

The hacking was discovered only recently leaving US officials concerned about the potential national security damage done by it. It’s the latest sophisticated hack targeting US federal agencies that investigators have linked to China, and it comes amid tensions between Washington and Beijing over cyber espionage and other high-stakes national security issues. 

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Telecom firms in the US hold enormous volumes of caller and user data, being the backbone of internet and phone communications in the country. The law enforcement agencies in the country request access, through a warrant, to specific portions of that data as part of criminal and national security investigations. 

The Chinese Embassy in Washington DC has denied that allegations calling the information  “a distortion of the fact.” Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu accused the US of “politicizing cybersecurity issues to smear China.”

The White House and Senate have been briefed by the US officials on the Chinese hacking campaign and cybersecurity experts from Microsoft and Google-owned firm Mandiant have been helping to investigate the hacking activity.

Quoting sources briefed on the matter, the report stated that people probing the hacks have been struck by the hackers’ skill, persistence, and ability to burrow into computer networks. The Chinese hacking team in question is known in the cybersecurity industry as Salt Typhoon.