CHINA WATCHChinese Hackers Still Lurk in U.S. Telecommunications systems
Chinese hackers blamed for compromising U.S. telecommunications infrastructure and spying on American presidential campaigns and American officials are still entrenched in those systems.
Chinese hackers blamed for compromising U.S. telecommunications infrastructure and spying on American presidential campaigns and American officials are still entrenched in those systems, according to senior U.S. officials who warn it could be years before the hackers are kicked out.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI on Tuesday urged U.S. telecommunication companies and their customers to take additional precautions, saying the breach might go deeper than first thought.
“We cannot say with certainty that the adversary has been evicted because we still don’t know the scope of what they’re doing,” Jeff Greene, CISA’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said during a briefing with reporters.
“We cannot with confidence say that we know everything, nor would our partners,” Greene said. “We’re still trying to understand.”
A senior FBI official who also spoke with reporters was equally cautious.
“Understanding the scope of the adversary activity through our investigations, in a situation of this magnitude, is measured in years,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of the breach investigation.
The Chinese-linked hackers have been coy, adjusting their behavior as more information about their activities becomes public.
“As more comes to light they change their TTPs [tactics, techniques and procedures] and their approach,” the official warned. “They may go dormant for a while to lower their profile.”
Word of the breach emerged in October, when the Chinese-linked cyber gang known as Salt Typhoon was linked to efforts to intercept communications for the presidential campaigns of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Less than a month later, CISA and the FBI warned that the Chinese efforts to spy on the Trump and Harris campaigns were just the start of “a broad and significant cyber espionage campaign” that penetrated multiple U.S. telecommunication companies.
China has repeatedly denied the U.S. allegations, accusing Washington of a smear campaign aimed at undermining Beijing.
“For quite some time, the US side has patched up all sorts of disinformation about threats of ‘Chinese hackers’ to serve its own geopolitical purposes,” Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA in an email Tuesday regarding the latest allegations.
“China firmly opposes and combats all kinds of cyber attacks,” Liu said. “The US needs to stop its own cyberattacks against other countries and refrain from using cyber security to smear and slander China.”
