Chinese hacking of US telecoms has put more companies at risk than previously known, says WSJ Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Chinese hacking has compromised 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.
Hackers have also exploited unpatched network devices from security vendors Fortinet (NASDAQ: ) and compromised major network routers from Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: ), the newspaper reported.
In addition to the deep intrusions at AT&T (NYSE: ) and Verizon (NYSE: ), hackers breached other networks belonging to Lumen Technologies and T-Mobile, according to the report.
China has denied involvement in such actions and accused the United States of spreading disinformation.
There is growing concern over the size and scope of reported Chinese hacking of US telecommunications networks and questions about when companies and the government will be able to reassure Americans about the problem.
The report added that US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told telecommunications and technology leaders at 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 cyberespionage operation targeted the systems of AT&T and Verizon, but US wireless carriers’ networks are now safe because they are cooperating with police and government officials, the companies said last week in their first acknowledgment of the attack.
Lumen said it no longer sees evidence of attackers on its network and that no user data has been accessed. T-Mobile said it stopped recent infiltration attempts into its systems from progressing and protected sensitive user 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 and that those people had been notified.
Vandana Venkatesh, chief legal officer at Verizon, told the newspaper that “Verizon has curtailed the activities associated with this particular incident.”
Cisco and Fortinet declined to comment to the newspaper.
Salt Typhoon targets have previously reportedly included officials associated with the presidential campaigns of Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
