AT&T and Verizon Attacked by Salt Typhoon Hackers Affiliated with China

(VOR News) – Based on the revelations provided by these firms, a hacking gang at AT&T known as Salt Typhoon—which has ties to China—has been targeted at many big American telecoms including AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.

Both companies have said that at the time their networks are safe and secure and that they are not susceptible to any future threats.

With its headquarters in Dallas, AT&T made the news in a statement released on Saturday stating that hackers sought access to data pertaining to foreign intelligence.

Verizon, with its headquarters in New York City, claimed that the attackers had aimed at “a limited number of prominent clients in government and politics.”

This AT&T line continued from the one that came before it.

“After extensive efforts to address this incident, we can confirm that Verizon has contained the activities related to it,” Verizon Chief Legal Officer Vandana Venkatesh said. “Verizon has effectively stopped the related events for this particular incident.”

Saying “We have not observed any threat actor activity within Verizon’s network for an extended period,” Venkatesh said Verizon has said that the issue has been fixed and has also included a statement declaring that this information has been confirmed by an independent cybersecurity agency.

Both of the most well-known telecom companies worldwide have committed themselves to cooperate with the authorities and notify everyone whose data might have been leaked.

“At this time, we have not identified any activity on our networks that is linked to nation-state actors,” said an AT&T spokesman in a second remark.

According to the company, who believe to have ties to the People’s Republic of China, the targets of the assaults were a small group of people who have been found to have contacts with foreign government intelligence services. Notices have been sent to anyone affected by the occurrence. These alerts were shared in line with the pertinent authorities keeping an eye on the matter.

The Wall Street Journal revealed in October that several telecom companies, including AT&T and Verizon, had been hacked. This made the general people aware of the Salt Typhoon breach.

It is believed that the hackers gained access to federal government networks used for the purpose of obtaining court-granted wiretap warrants.

T-Mobile USA Inc. has seen odd activity on network-level routers that resembles the tactics Salt Typhoon used against the company, despite the fact that knowledge about the hack since that time is lacking.

No consumer data was stolen, but T-Mobile claims it put AT&T out of business.

A notification released by the White House on Friday indicated that nine separate telecommunications companies suffered from the onslaught resulting from the Salt Typhoon.

Though officials from the United States have not named all affected carriers, industry analysts have concluded that the breach is noteworthy.

Recently, Vice President Joe Biden’s staff met with AT&T’s Chief Executive Officer, John Stankey, among other members of the telecom industry to go over industry inadequacies. The assembly aimed to evaluate the advantages and drawbacks of the sector.

Officials have cautioned that it could take a significant period of time to totally eradicate the threat and stated they do not know exactly the extent of the attack, including the count of Americans targeted.

China has repeatedly denied any role in the assaults and any guilt for them, claiming it has no bearing on them. Conversely, security researchers believe that Salt Typhoon, a sophisticated cyber-espionage operation unearthed by threat analysts employed by Microsoft, carried out the attack.

This event has sparked concerns about the security of important communications infrastructure in the United States, therefore stressing the need of improving the degree of government-private sector cooperation

SOURCE: CS

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