China’s hacking of US telecoms exposed more firms than previously known, WSJ says Via Reuters

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

Hackers exploited unregistered web resources from security vendors Fortinet (NASDAQ:) and compromised major network routers from Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:), the newspaper reported.

In addition to deep penetration at AT&T (NYSE: ) and Verizon (NYSE: ), hackers also penetrated the networks of Lumen Technologies and T-Mobile, according to the report.

China denied involvement in such activities and accused the United States of peddling disinformation.

There is growing concern about the extent and scope of China’s reported hacking of US telecommunications networks and questions about when companies and the government will be able to reassure Americans about this.

The report added that US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told telecommunications and technology executives at a secret White House meeting in the fall of 2023 that Chinese hackers have the ability to shut down many US ports, networks electricity and other voluntary service targets.

China’s cyberespionage operation linked to the Salt Storm has targeted the systems of AT&T and Verizon, but US wireless networks are now safe as they cooperate with law enforcement and government officials, the companies said last week when they received the first attacks.

Lumen said it has seen no evidence of attackers on its network and that no customer data has been accessed. T-Mobile said it has stopped recent attempts to infiltrate its systems to develop and protect sensitive customer information from access, according to the Journal.

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

Vandana Venkatesh, Verizon’s chief legal officer, told the newspaper that “Verizon has duties related to this incident.”

Cisco and Fortinet declined to comment to the newspaper.

Salt Hurricane’s targets have previously been reported to include officials associated with Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns.