Chinese state-sponsored threat group Salt Typhoon was noted by Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly to have infiltrated federal networks prior to its extensive cyberespionage operation against U.S. telecommunications providers, reports The Register.
Identification of Salt Typhoon's exploits in federal networks has let the FBI and other law enforcement agencies infiltrate the hacking group's virtual private servers, resulting in the discovery of its sweeping attack against telcos, noted Easterly at a Foundation for Defense of Democracies event.
Despite the extent of Salt Typhoon's attacks, China's potentially deep infiltration into our nation's critical infrastructure remains a more significant worry for Easterly.
"What I've been more concerned about are the efforts to burrow deeply into our most sensitive critical infrastructure, whether that's water or transportation or power or communications, for the purposes of launching disruptive or destructive attacks in the event of a major crisis in the Taiwan Strait," said Easterly.
