The U.S. government said it has identified circumstances in which a hacker group supported by the Chinese government infiltrated U.S. critical infrastructure-related communications networks and stole information. Some analysts say that Guam, which is used as a key base for the U.S. military in case of an emergency in the Taiwan Strait, was also attacked, suggesting that China may be trying to neutralize the U.S. intervention before invading Taiwan.
The US National Security Agency (NSA) announced on the 24th (local time), “We have confirmed that a hacker group affiliated with the Chinese government infiltrated critical infrastructure-related communications networks across the United States by planting untraceable malware.”
Chinese hacker group ‘Volt Typhoon’ is said to have accessed computers remotely to collect information. In addition, additional hacking was attempted through the communication network connected to the computer. Microsoft (MS) said in a press release, “It has been investigated that they have infiltrated the communication network across critical sector infrastructure such as telecommunications, manufacturing, water, electricity, and gas of the US government from mid-2021.”
Some analyzes suggest that Chinese hackers may be trying to disable the communications system of the US military base in Guam. The New York Times (NYT) reported that “military communications often use civilian communications networks, so US authorities paid special attention to the fact that communications networks in Guam were hacked.” According to recent US war simulation results, it is observed that if China invades Taiwan, it will block communication with the US in the first place, delaying the US response.
In the United States, there are many views that the Chinese hackers’ attempt to infiltrate the US communications network is part of China’s large-scale information gathering operation, like a ‘reconnaissance balloon’. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Microsoft said that the activities of the Chinese hacker group were discovered during the height of the spy balloon crisis.
The United States, seeing that there are concerns about cross-border damage due to Chinese hackers’ activities, has launched a joint response by distributing a 24-page hacking countermeasure in solidarity with countries belonging to the information alliance ‘Five Ice (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand)’.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.