Chinese Hackers to Blame for US Court Wiretap Break, WSJ Reports
Chinese hackers breached US broadband provider networks in a cyberattack associated with the Chinese government. A Wall Street Journal report published on October 5 showed that the US Court wiretap systems attack targeted communication infrastructure.
According to Reuters, AT&T, Verizon Communications, and Lumen Technologies are among the top US telecommunication companies affected by the cyber attack. The Verizon wiretap data hack left thousands of users without mobile phone networks across the US.
Months of Breach
According to the Wall Street Journal, Chinese hackers may have accessed US network infrastructure that giant telecommunication companies use to meet requests for authorized communication data for months before being detected.
The hackers had also breached other tranches of internet traffic. According to the Wall Street Journal, the cyberattack was conducted by a hacking group based in China that US investigators call ‘Salt Typhoon’. The motive of the US wiretap systems hack by China was aimed at gathering intelligence.
China’s Response
On October 6, 2024 the Chinese foreign ministry said it was not aware of the cyber attack.
“At a time when cybersecurity has become a common challenge for all countries around the world, this erroneous approach will only hinder the efforts of the international community to jointly address the challenge through dialogue and cooperation,” the ministry said.
The ministry further said that cybersecurity agencies in Beijing had found evidence that Volt Typhoon was staged by a global ransomware organization.
China has denied allegations by tech companies and Western governments’ that it uses hackers to collect government information. The Chinese foreign ministry also said that previously, the US government had used a false narrative to frame the Chinese government.
This is not the first time that the US and Chinese governments have conflicted over cybersecurity matters. At the beginning of 2024, law enforcers in the US disrupted a huge Chinese hacking group dubbed ‘Flax Typhoon’.
The disruption occurred just months after the US government confronted China about another cyber espionage conducted under a campaign known as ‘Volt Typhoon’.
Cybersecurity Concerns
US officials are increasingly concerned about the possibility of cybercriminals being used to disrupt government systems in case of a US-China conflict. The Wall Street Journal said that the recent US telco networks hack on telecommunication networks poses a serious national security risk for the US.
