From telecommunications to transport hubs, a wide spectrum was spied on, they say. The US Pacific island of Guam is also a target of the “Volt Typhoon” group.
According to the technology giant Microsoft and Western secret services, a Chinese hacker group is targeting critical US infrastructure. From telecommunications to traffic hubs, a wide range was spied on, the intelligence services and the company said on Thursday night. It was not immediately clear how many US organizations were affected.
The US Pacific island of Guam, on which strategically important US military bases are located, is also the target of the state-backed group called “Volt Typhoon,” Microsoft said. Repelling an attack on Guam could be a challenge. According to analysts, this is one of the largest known Chinese cyber espionage campaigns against critical US infrastructure. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Against the background of geopolitical tension in the Pacific region, the hackers could disrupt the critical communications infrastructure between the US and its Asian partners in future crises, Microsoft analysts said. “That means they’re preparing for that possibility,” added John Hultquist, head of threat analysis at Google’s Mandiant Intelligence. The Chinese activities are unique and worrying, also because analysts do not yet have enough insight into the capabilities of this group. The US National Security Agency (NSA) said it is working with partners including Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the UK, as well as the FBI, to identify security vulnerabilities.
(APA/Reuters)