Chinese hack of US telecoms compromised more firms than previously known, WSJ says By Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Chinese hackers have damaged more U.S. telecommunications than previously known, including: Charter communications (NASDAQ:), Consolidated Communications and Windstream, the Wall Street Journal reported late Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The hackers also exploited the security vendor’s unencrypted network devices Fortinet (NASDAQ:) and major network routers Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:), the paper reported.

In addition to deep intrusions at AT&T (NYSE: ) and Verizon (NYSE: ), hackers also hit other networks owned by Lumen Technologies and T-Mobile, the report said.

China has denied involvement in such activities and accused the US of spreading disinformation.

There is growing concern about the scale and scope of the Chinese hacking of US telecommunications networks, and questions about when the companies and the government will be able to reassure Americans on the matter.

The report added that US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told telecommunications and technology leaders in a secret White House meeting in the fall of 2023 that Chinese hackers had gained the ability to shut down dozens of US ports, power grids and other infrastructure targets at will.

The China-linked Salt Typhoon cyber-espionage operation targeted AT&T and Verizon systems, but the wireless carriers’ US networks are now secure because they are working with law enforcement and government officials, the companies said last week in the first acknowledgment of the attacks.

Lumen said it no longer saw evidence of attackers on its network and that customer data had not been accessed. Journal.

Verizon told the newspaper that a small number of high-profile government and political customers were specifically targeted by the threat actor and that those people had been notified.

Vandana Venkatesh, Verizon’s general counsel, told the newspaper that “Verizon is containing the activity related to this particular incident.”

Cisco and Fortinet declined to comment to the paper.

Earlier it was reported that the targets of Salt Typhoon were officials associated with the presidential campaign of Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.