Chinese hackers launch cyberattack on US bugging systems – The WSJ

A cyberattack linked to the Chinese government has infiltrated the networks of US providers, likely gaining access to information from systems used by the federal government for court-ordered bugging requests.

Source: The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)

Details: Sources from the Wall Street Journal indicate that the hackers may have had access to the network infrastructure used to fulfil legitimate US requests for communications data for several months or longer, which poses a serious threat to national security.

Verizon Communications, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies, among others, have been targeted by cyberattacks. Under federal law, telecommunications and broadband companies are required to permit authorities to intercept electronic information with a court order. It remains unclear whether systems supporting foreign intelligence surveillance were also compromised in this breach of the law.

The cyberattack was executed by a Chinese hacker group known as Salt Typhoon.

The attack has come to light in recent weeks and is currently under active investigation by the US government and private-sector security analysts.

A source familiar with the attack stated that the US government views these intrusions as historically significant and worrisome.

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