Chinese 'Salt Typhoon' Hackers Penetrate U.S. Telecoms in Worst-Ever Breach, Says Senate Intelligence Chair

Nov 22, 2024, 05:30 AM

U.S. federal agencies, including the FBI and National Security Agency, are investigating a significant breach of over a dozen American telecommunications companies by Chinese government-linked hackers. The espionage campaign, described by the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee as 'the worst telecom hack in our nation's history—by far', resulted in the theft of customer data and the compromise of communications involving government and political officials. The chairman stated that the breach reached 'far deeper than the Biden administration has described', with hackers able to eavesdrop on phone conversations and read text messages. Cybersecurity experts have identified the Chinese advanced persistent threat groups involved, referred to as 'Salt Typhoon,' 'Liminal Panda,' and 'Gelsemium,' which have deployed sophisticated tools such as the 'Wolfsbane' Linux variant to infiltrate networks.