AT&T and Verizon say they're free of Salt Typhoon hacks at last, as further victims identified

A 9th victim has been identified in the Salt Typhoon hack
No attackers are thought to be lurking on the networks
The White House wants to go on the ‘offensive’ against cyber threats

An ongoing assessment of the notorious Salt Typhoon hack has claimed there are no longer any lurking hackers present in the breached networks, and that all networks are now secure. This is the latest development in one of the most far reaching cyber-espionage campaigns in recent memory, which has just claimed its 9th victim, the White House confirmed.

Major telecoms firms like AT&T and Verizon were amongst the victims of the campaign, with over 100,000 routers compromised in just one network, which allowed broad and full access, allowing the attackers to “geolocate millions of individuals, to record phone calls at will.”

It’s believed that fewer than 100 individuals were affected personally by the attack, with the group specifically identifying a small number of devices around the Washington DC area, with a goal of identifying and monitoring government targets to collect intelligence.

White House retribution

The attack has sparked response from the White House, as incoming President Trump has vowed to go on the offensive. Officials claim years of cyberdefense has been ineffective, and Mike Waltz, new national security advisor has warned the US will need to ‘start imposing’ on nation state actors who pose a threat.

Whilst the investigation is ongoing, it seems unlikely that the scale of the intrusion will ever be fully understood, with damage limitation and mitigating follow-on risk now a high priority.

“That’s why we’re looking forward and saying ‘let’s lock down this infrastructure,’ and frankly, let’s hold the Chinese accountable for this,” said Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for cyber and emerging technology.

“From what we’re seeing regarding the level of cybersecurity implemented across the telecom sectors, those networks are not as defensible as they need to be to defend against a well-resourced, capable, offensive cyber actor like China.”

Via Reuters

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