An alleged campaign by Chinese state-sponsored hackers on targets in the US and Guam has raised fears that Beijing is preparing to disrupt communications in the Pacific in the event of a conflict.
The hacking campaign was first identified by Microsoft Corp on Wednesday and quickly confirmed by authorities in the US, UK and other allied nations.
Microsoft said the hacking group, which it dubbed Volt Typhoon, had breached government, communications, manufacturing and IT organizations in the US and Guam, a crucial military post in the western Pacific Ocean.
Photo: AP
While the identities of most of the hacking victims remains unknown, US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro told CNBC on Thursday that the navy was affected by the intrusions.
The extent of the breach was not immediately known, and spokesperson for the navy declined to “discuss the status of our networks.”
Rob Joyce, senior adviser for cybersecurity strategy to the director of the US National Security Agency (NSA), on Thursday told CNN that Chinese hackers could still have access to sensitive US networks that they have targeted.
Joyce said the intrusions stood out in how brazen they were in “scope and scale.”
An NSA representative declined to comment and referred instead to a release by the NSA and other US agencies on the Chinese hacking group.
Microsoft said it had “moderate confidence” that the breaches were carried out in preparation to upend communications in the event of a crisis.
The company’s disclosure came amid mounting concerns that China might take military action against Taiwan.
Former NSA director of operations Jon Darby said the operation matched a well-known method of infiltrating networks by accessing them at the edges, rather than at what he called the bull’s-eye, and then remaining undetected for years.
“The interesting thing is they got in from home routers all the way into the US Navy infrastructure,” said Darby, who is not familiar with the details of this specific case.
“The scary thing is they could then launch disruptive or destructive attacks when things are hitting the fan,” he said. “If they’re in these networks they can wreak havoc. You’ve got to identify and plug up the vulnerabilities that allowed them to get into these networks and eradicate them.”
The NSA, along with intelligence agencies from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the UK, also shared details on the hackers. The countries are all part of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.
“We noted this extremely unprofessional report — a patchwork with a broken chain of evidence,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning (毛寧) said. “Apparently, this has been a collective disinformation campaign launched by the US through the Five Eyes to serve its geopolitical agenda.”
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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