Reports: China hacked Verizon and AT&T, may have accessed US wiretap systems

Source: Arstechnica, but originally WSJ

Chinese government hackers penetrated the networks of several large US-based Internet service providers and may have gained access to systems used for court-authorized wiretaps of communications networks, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. "People familiar with the matter" told the WSJ that hackers breached the networks of companies including Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen (also known as CenturyLink).

"A cyberattack tied to the Chinese government penetrated the networks of a swath of US broadband providers, potentially accessing information from systems the federal government uses for court-authorized network wiretapping requests," the WSJ wrote. "For months or longer, the hackers might have held access to network infrastructure used to cooperate with lawful US requests for communications data, according to people familiar with the matter."

These "attackers also had access to other tranches of more generic Internet traffic," according to the WSJ's sources. The attack is being attributed to a Chinese hacking group called Salt Typhoon.

The Washington Post reported on the hacking campaign yesterday, describing it as "an audacious espionage operation likely aimed in part at discovering the Chinese targets of American surveillance." The Post report attributed the information to US government officials and said an investigation by the FBI, other intelligence agencies, and the Department of Homeland Security "is in its early stages."

Read more: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/reports-china-hacked-verizon-and-att-may-have-accessed-us-wiretap-systems/

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It seems that all the tools the government is using on us are now being used by our state's enemies. Who could have possibly possibly known this would happen? How soon before the basement dwellers are also breaking in and posting embarrassing conversations between FBI agents?