China-backed hackers breached major telecom firms across the world, warns FBI

China-backed hackers have breached “major telecommunications companies” among a range of other targets across the globe, warned US security agencies on Tuesday adding that the infringement was carried out by exploiting known software flaws in routers and other known network networking gear. In a statement, the FBI, the National Security Agency and US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said, “[T]hese devices are often overlooked by cyber defenders, who struggle to maintain and keep pace with routine software patching of Internet-facing services and endpoint devices”.

However, the agencies’ security advisory did not identify the victims of the cyberattack. Instead, the statement was mainly aimed at listing the precautionary measures that would help the organisations running the devices made by Cisco, Fortinet and other vendors. It said, “General mitigations outlined in the advisory include: applying patches as soon as possible, disabling unnecessary ports and protocols, and replacing end-of-life network infrastructure.”

“NSA, CISA, and FBI also recommend segmenting networks and enabling robust logging of internet-facing services and network infrastructure accesses,” the agencies added. 

An advisory, jointly released by three US agencies, is the latest in a series of public warnings from the American cybersecurity officials to try and soften the impact of hackers based out of foreign nations. More often than not, the attackers use vulnerabilities in software which are already known, meaning, a fix is available. It is to note here that FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate alleged in a speech in April, that China "conducts more cyber intrusions than all other nations in the world combined”.

Anonymous hacks CCP-run website

It is to note that Cyber hacktivist group ‘Anonymous’ last month hacked a  Chinese Communist Party (CCP) website, further warning Beijing not to attempt "anything stupid against Taiwan." Anonymous, on a newly produced HTML page on the website, added their logo, along with a photograph of a person wearing a black hoodie and a 'Guy Fawkes' mask. In addition to this, the meme "Taiwan Numbah Wan!" emerges on the page, which is a reference to a famous phrase made by video game streamer "AngryPug" in 2015 during a battle in the computer game "H1Z1" to annoy Chinese streamer "Em0", Taiwan News reported. 

Image: AP/Pixabay