Over the weekend, sources familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal that the Chinese hackers have also breached the systems of Charter Communications, Consolidated Communications, and Windstream.
When BleepingComputer reached out earlier today to ask for confirmation, Windstream, Charter, and Consolidated Communications declined to comment.
Following this wave of telecom breaches that have impacted numerous countries, CISA has advised senior government officials to switch to end-to-end encrypted messaging apps like Signal to mitigate communication interception risks. Additionally, the cybersecurity agency has released guidance to assist telecom administrators and engineers in strengthening their systems against Salt Typhoon attacks.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon also announced a new bill to secure the infrastructure of American telecoms, while FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency would act “urgently” to ensure that U.S. carriers are required to secure their networks against cyberattacks.
In response to these telecom hacks, the U.S. government reportedly plans to ban China Telecom’s last active operations in the United States. Additionally, U.S. authorities are considering banning TP-Link routers if ongoing investigations reveal that their use in cyberattacks poses a national security risk.
The Treasury Department also linked Chinese-sponsored hackers last week to a recent breach of the agency’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which administers trade and economic sanctions programs, in what it described as a “major cybersecurity incident.”