Chinese government-sponsored team hacker infiltrated “critical infrastructure” USA – From telecommunications to transport hubs, – Western intelligence agencies and Microsoft warned yesterday Wednesday, stressing that similar actions could occur in other countries of the world.

For its part, the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded today that the allegations are a disinformation campaign launched by Washington for geopolitical reasons. “Relevant reports from Western agencies have no evidence,” Mao Ning, a ministry spokeswoman, said during a regular press conference.

It is not yet clear how many organizations have been affected, but the US National Security Agency (NSA) said it is working with partners in Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the UK, as well as the FBI, to identify possible breaches. According to these countries, they could also become the target of hackers.

Microsoft analysts said they have “moderate confidence” that the Chinese group, known as Volt Typhoon, is developing capabilities that could “cause problems in critical telecommunications infrastructure between the US and Asia during future crises.”

Targets of hackers

Microsoft explained that Volt Typhoon has been active since mid-2021 and is targeting, among other things, key infrastructure on the island of Guam, home to a US military base in the Pacific.

The hackers target “the telecommunications, industrial, government services, transportation, construction, navy, government, information technology, and education sectors,” Microsoft continued.

According to the company, “observable behavior suggests that the threat actor intends to spy on and maintain access (to the infrastructure) undetected for as long as possible.”

Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, also warned about the Volt Typhoon.

“For many years, China has carried out operations around the world to steal the intellectual property and confidential data of critical infrastructure organizations,” she said.

For his part, John Hultquist, an analyst at the American cybersecurity company Mandiant, calculated that China and Russia have long targeted critical infrastructure, but Volt Typhoon provided a better understanding of how Chinese cyberattacks work.

He noted that China’s activity is peculiar and disturbing, since analysts still do not know exactly what this group is capable of.

^{Source: APE, AFP, Reuters.}