Slashdot: China’s ‘Salt Typhoon’ Hackers Continue to Breach Telecoms Despite US Sanctions

Feb 15, 2025

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Source URL: https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/02/15/2244220/chinas-salt-typhoon-hackers-continue-to-breach-telecoms-despite-us-sanctions?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Source: Slashdot
Title: China’s ‘Salt Typhoon’ Hackers Continue to Breach Telecoms Despite US Sanctions

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Summary: The text discusses ongoing cybersecurity threats from the Chinese government-linked hacking group Salt Typhoon, which is targeting telecommunications providers and exploiting vulnerabilities in Cisco devices. This situation highlights significant implications for information security, particularly for organizations that rely on networking hardware.

Detailed Description: The content describes a series of cybersecurity breaches attributed to the Chinese state-sponsored group known as Salt Typhoon. The report emphasizes the group’s targeting of telecommunications providers, specifically through exploiting vulnerabilities in Cisco’s IOS software. Here are the key points:

– **Targeting of Telecommunications**: The group is not only attacking American organizations but is also extending its attacks to entities in the UK, South Africa, and globally.
– **Vulnerable Devices**: Cybersecurity researchers have identified that over 12,000 Cisco devices connected to the internet are at risk, with Salt Typhoon focusing on a subset that includes telecoms and university networks.
– **Exploiting Cisco Vulnerabilities**: The group is utilizing known vulnerabilities in Cisco’s IOS software to gain initial access. They are reportedly targeting over 1,000 Cisco devices, which allow the hackers to escalate privileges and modify configurations for persistent access.
– **University Networks**: Specific institutions, including several universities in the U.S., were noted as targets due to the valuable research data and intellectual property that can be acquired.
– **Global Impact**: The group’s activity is not confined to one region, as they’ve compromised devices across various continents, including the U.S., South America, and India.
– **Recent Cisco Advisories**: Cisco has proactively issued security advisories regarding vulnerabilities in its IOS XE software, urging customers to implement fixes and security upgrades.

This situation underscores critical trends in cybersecurity, particularly how state-sponsored threat actors utilize existing vulnerabilities in widely deployed infrastructure technology to conduct espionage and data theft. Security and compliance professionals should prioritize understanding these threats and ensuring robust security measures are in place to defend against such targeted attacks.

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