Sustained Campaign Using Chinese Espionage Tools Targets Telcos


Attackers using tools associated with Chinese espionage groups have breached multiple telecom operators in a single Asian country in a long-running espionage campaign.

The attackers placed backdoors on the networks of targeted companies and also attempted to steal credentials. The attacks have been underway since at least 2021, with evidence to suggest that some of this activity may even date as far back as 2020. Virtually all of the organizations targeted were telecoms operators, with the addition of a services company that serves the telecoms sector and a university in another Asian country.

Read more…
Source: Symantec


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Brazilian authorities start probe as 102 million consumers are exposed in new leak

    February 11, 2021

    Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority (ANPD, in the Portuguese acronym) has informed today (11) that it has started an investigation into the country’s second largest data leak of the year. The investigation relates to the exposure of data relating to more than 102 million mobile phone lines from two mobile operators, which, according to Brazilian news ...

  • Hezbollah’s cyber unit hacked into telecoms and ISPs

    January 28, 2021

    A Hezbollah-affiliated threat actor known as Lebanese Cedar has been linked to intrusions at telco operators and internet service providers in the US, the UK, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and the UAE. The year-long hacking campaign started in early 2020 and was discovered by Israeli cyber-security firm Clearsky. In a report published ...

  • Xiaomi added to US list of alleged Communist Chinese military companies

    January 15, 2021

    Chinese hardware manufacturer Xiaomi has been added to a list of alleged Communist Chinese military companies by the United States Department of Defense. “The Department is determined to highlight and counter the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Military-Civil Fusion development strategy, which supports the modernisation goals of the People’s Liberation Army by ensuring its access to ...

  • Italian mobile operator offers to replace SIM cards after massive data breach

    January 5, 2021

    Ho Mobile, an Italian mobile operator, owned by Vodafone, has confirmed a massive data breach on Monday and is now taking the rare step of offering to replace the SIM cards of all affected customers. The breach is believed to have impacted roughly 2.5 million customers. It first came to light last month on December 28 when ...

  • T-Mobile data breach exposed phone numbers, call records

    December 30, 2020

    T-Mobile has announced a data breach exposing customers’ proprietary network information (CPNI), including phone numbers and call records. Starting yesterday, T-Mobile began texting customers that a “security incident” exposed their account’s information. According to T-Mobile, its security team recently discovered “malicious, unauthorized access” to their systems. After bringing in a cybersecurity firm to perform an investigation, T-Mobile ...

  • Australia: Communications department flags idea of tying telco licences to cyber capability

    December 11, 2020

    The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, and Communications has run up the flagpole the idea of inserting security provisions into the Telecommunications Act to require telcos to safeguard their systems as a condition of their licence to operate. Writing in a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) review of the ...