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US telecoms giant Verizon says it is protecting its network after being targeted by those linked to China Salt Typhoon cyber espionage group.
In a statement to TechCrunch on Sunday, Verizon spokesman Richard Young said the company “contains this cyber incident caused by a nation-state threat actor” and “has not detected any threat actor activity on its network for some time.” .”
Verizon’s handling of the incident was verified by a “highly respected cybersecurity firm,” the company said, but Young declined to name the third-party company.
While the extent of the Salt Typhoon breach is not yet known, Verizon said the hackers specifically targeted “a small number of high-profile government customers.”
“Immediately following this incident, Verizon took a number of key actions to protect its customers and network, including working with federal law enforcement and national security agencies, industry partners and private cybersecurity firms,” said Verizon CEO Vandana Venkatesh. . “After considerable work on this incident, we can report that Verizon has contained activities related to this incident.”
AT&T has also reportedly confirmed that it has secured its network after being targeted by the Salt Typhoon hacking campaign.
“Currently, we do not detect any activity by nation-state actors on our networks. “Based on our current investigation into this attack, the People’s Republic of China targeted a small number of individuals of foreign intelligence interest.” Reuters AT&T spokeswoman said about it. The company added that the Chinese-backed hackers targeted “a small number of individuals of foreign intelligence interest.”
This is the first time Verizon and AT&T have acknowledged that they were affected by the Salt Typhoon campaign. Hackers first reported in October that they had taken over the networks of the largest US phone and Internet companies to gather intelligence on US citizens.
US officials said earlier this month that at least eight telecommunications providers, including Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) and T-Mobile, were targeted. Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, said on Friday that a ninth victim had been identified. Reuters.
AT&T and Lumen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Neuberger, who did not release the name of the newly identified victim, said one of the nine telecoms breached had an administrator account with access to more than 100,000 routers.
