T-Mobile network breached in a massive Chinese cyberattack on telcos
T-Mobile has emerged as one of the victims in a recent large-scale cyber-espionage operation, reportedly tied to China, according to The Wall Street Journal. The hackers, believed to be a part of a group called Salt Typhoon and suspected to be connected to Chinese intelligence, reportedly breached T-Mobile's network as part of their widespread spying campaign.
T-Mobile responds to cyber-espionage allegations
Responding to the allegations, a T-Mobile spokesperson told The Journal that the company is "closely monitoring this industry-wide attack." The representative also assured that "at this time, T-Mobile systems and data have not been impacted in any significant way, and we have no evidence of impacts to customer information." However, it is still unclear what information related to T-Mobile customers' calls and communication records may have been compromised in the breach.
FBI and CISA confirm interception of surveillance data
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and US cyber watchdog agency Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have confirmed that China-linked hackers intercepted surveillance data, intended for American law enforcement agencies. They did this by infiltrating an unspecified number of telecom companies. The Journal had previously reported in October that Chinese hackers accessed networks of several US broadband providers including Verizon Communications, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies.
Chinese hackers targeted US government systems
The October report also revealed that the hackers had also got their hands on information from systems used by the federal government for court-authorized wiretapping. They seem to have collected a lot of internet traffic from these service providers. Signs indicate that this hacking campaign went beyond US borders, targeting a handful of service providers in other countries as well.
