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T-Mobile's network was among the systems hacked in a damaging Chinese cyber-espionage operation that gained entry into multiple US and international telecommunications companies, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday citing people familiar with the matter:
Hackers linked to a Chinese intelligence agency were able to breach T-Mobile as part of a monthslong campaign to spy on the cellphone communications of high-value intelligence targets, the Journal added, without saying when the attack took place.
[...] It was unclear what information, if any, was taken about T-Mobile customers' calls and communications records, according to the WSJ report.
[...] On Wednesday, The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US cyber watchdog agency CISA said China-linked hackers have intercepted surveillance data intended for American law enforcement agencies after breaking into an unspecified number of telecom companies.
Earlier in October, the Journal reported that Chinese hackers accessed the networks of US broadband providers, including Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies and obtained information from systems the federal government uses for court-authorized wiretapping.
Previously: U.S. Wiretap Systems Targeted in China-Linked Hack
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Barenflimski on Thursday November 21, @01:18AM (2 children)
That's fairly impressive they were able to get into the snooping systems.
That stuff is locked down in so many ways, its a big question. How did they get access to this stuff? Very few people have credentials. Getting access to those networks is no small feat. Maybe a few 0-days into Windows along with the firewalls? Inside job? Phished some extremely high level credentials? Found a service account they could change?
What will be even more interesting to know is how long they've been in and able to monitor these systems. My guess is they've been in awhile and got caught expanding their footprint. Someone in the Chinese spy agency is going to be pissed.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Mykl on Thursday November 21, @03:16AM
But are these systems really locked down as hard as they say they are?
After 9/11 there was a shift to ensure that information could be shared between agencies much more easily and widely - I assume that this was the case between agencies and industry too.
I for one am totally unsurprised that the systems the government uses to spy on their citizens are now being used to spy on their citizens.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21, @03:58AM
Usually it is a human getting fooled.