In a rare joint move, the United States, its English-speaking allies, along with countries like Germany, Italy, and Japan, have accused three Chinese firms of involvement in hacking activities.
In a 37-page advisory, published on Wednesday, the countries accused the firms, Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology, Beijing Huanyu Tianqiong Information Technology, and Sichuan Zhixin Ruijie Network Technology, of providing “cyber-related products and services to China’s intelligence services, including multiple units in the People’s Liberation Army and Ministry of State Security.”
Salt Typhoon Espionage
Sichuan Juxinhe has already been sanctioned by the US Treasury over its alleged ties to the hacking group nicknamed “Salt Typhoon,” which has been accused of gobbling up vast amounts of Americans’ call records, including communications from senior leadership in Washington. Beijing Huanyu Tianqiong and Sichuan Zhixin Ruijie were both allegedly hit by recent and so far, unexplained data leaks.
Previous attempts to reach Sichuan Juxinhe have been unsuccessful. Reuters could not immediately locate contact information for the other two firms. Beijing typically denies sanctioning cyber-espionage activity.
Cyber Breach ‘Mind-Boggling’
Although US officials have been complaining of China-linked hacking activity for decades, the breaches attributed to Salt Typhoon have stood out as particularly sweeping. One senator last year described its scope as “mind-boggling.” Another said it likely represented “the largest telecommunications hack in our nation’s history.”
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, published on Wednesday, the FBI’s top cyber official, Brett Leatherman, said that Salt Typhoon was responsible for “one of the more consequential cyber espionages breaches we have seen here in the United States.” The Journal said the hackers targeted more than 80 countries and had shown varying levels of interest in more than 600 companies.
Five Eyes, Rare Cyber Advisory
The United States regularly calls out specific Chinese and other foreign entities over their alleged involvement in cyber espionage, and it has occasionally done so in conjunction with other members of the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance: Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand. Wednesday’s statement was cosigned by the latter, as well as by Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.
(With Inputs from Reuters)
