Federal authorities said they are investigating China-linked attacks on U.S. telecom networks in the wake of reports that hackers conducted a broad espionage campaign, targeting senior elected officials and candidates.
“After the FBI identified specific malicious activity targeting the sector, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency immediately notified affected companies, rendered technical assistance, and rapidly shared information to assist other victims,” the agencies said in a joint statement Friday.
The U.S. government’s public acknowledgment of China-linked attacks on commercial telecommunications infrastructure adds intensity to an already sensitive and potentially highly consequential spree of attacks.
Lawmakers quickly responded to the reported attacks earlier this month after The Wall Street Journal linked a string of attacks on U.S. telecom networks to Salt Typhoon, a threat group linked to China’s government. Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Communications and Technology Subcommittee sought details about the scope of the attacks and what information the nation state threat group accessed.
“Agencies across the U.S. government are collaborating to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defenses across the commercial communications sector,” the FBI and CISA said in the joint statement.
On Friday, The New York Times linked the attacks to a broad espionage effort targeting former President Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance, staff in Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign and other senior elected officials using devices on Verizon’s network.
“We are aware that a highly sophisticated nation-state actor has reportedly targeted several U.S. telecommunications providers to gather intelligence,” Rich Young, senior director of corporate communications at Verizon, said Monday via email. “Along with federal law enforcement, industry peers and third-party cyber experts, we have been and are working to confirm, assess and remediate any potential impact. Verizon is committed to assisting law enforcement in this investigation.”
Salt Typhoon is one of multiple threat groups linked to China’s government. Intrusions by the state-sponsored threat group are part of an extensive effort to maneuver in preparation for future attacks, federal authorities warned earlier this year.
In February, the Five Eyes warned that the group known as Volt Typhoon already embedded itself into numerous transportation, energy, communications, and water and wastewater systems. In September, the FBI disrupted a massive botnet linked to another threat group known as Flax Typhoon.
