Some time ago a massive data breach conducted in the U.S. came to light: a Chinese group has hacked multiple networks in the country. U.S. officials have just added a ninth telecom company to the list of networks that have been infiltrated.
The campaign spanned across a year as the hacker group exploited vulnerabilities in U.S. telecom networks and gained access to the metadata of a large number of American users. This metadata includes communication logs, pieces of text messages and even bits of audio from voice calls.
Officials say that the group — officially known as Salt Typhoon — specifically targeted government officials and politicians. President elect Donald Trump and vice president elect JD Vance were prime targets for the group. U.S. officials also say that Salt Typhoon is still inside telecom networks and it’s difficult to ascertain when they will be fully evicted.
The U.S. claims that this attack is a direct assault funded by the Chinese government. Chinese officials have dismissed the claim and condemned the cyber invasion. Other countries are now also taking action and educating their telecom engineers about how to spot Salt Typhoon incursions.
T-Mobile claims it was not affected by the attack. | Image credit — The New York Times
While T-Mobile spotted suspicious behavior that might have been the same hacker group it claims that it was unaffected by the attack. The suspicious agents were all removed from the network after T-Mobile verified the irregularities.
U.S. officials revealed yesterday that there is a ninth company that was also breached by the attackers but refused to provide a name. That ninth company may very well be T-Mobile seeing how large its network is.
Officials have previously said that the attackers kept changing their strategies whenever the media was told what U.S. security personnel knew. So it’s very likely that the ninth company’s name isn’t being provided so officials can keep the upper hand over the hackers.
This attack is one of the largest to have occurred in recent times and is an important reminder of how technology is never truly safe from malicious individuals.
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Abdullah loves smartphones, Virtual Reality, and audio gear. Though he covers a wide range of news his favorite is always when he gets to talk about the newest VR venture or when Apple sets the industry ablaze with another phenomenal release.
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