Salt Typhoon and its attacks on US telecommunications networks

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 18:54:07 -0500
cyberattack, salt-typhoon, telecommunication, threat-actor

UMBC’s Dr. Richard Forno describes Salt Typhoon, the Chinese threat actor group, and its recent attack on US telecommunications networks in an article in the latest issue of UMBC Magazine. Sen. Mark Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has called it the “worst telecom hack in our nation’s history” and noted that it makes prior cyberattacks by Russian operatives look like “child’s play” by comparison.

This attack comes on the heels of reports that the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were assisting telephone companies with countering other China-connected compromises of their networks. The earlier hacking was part of an attack targeting people in the Washington area in government or political roles, including candidates for the 2024 presidential election.

But Salt Typhoon is not just targeting Americans. Research from security vendor Trend Micro shows that attacks by Salt Typhoon compromised other critical infrastructure worldwide in recent years.

Read more about Salt Typhoon in Dr. Forno's UMBC magazine article.