US warns Chinese hackers against hacking ‘critical’ infrastructure

Washington [US]May 27 (ANI): The US, Western allies and Microsoft say state-sponsored Chinese hackers have breached US critical infrastructure networks, and warn similar attacks could occur around the world. Standard Media reported.

Microsoft highlighted Guam, a US territory in the Pacific Ocean with a key military outpost, as one of its targets, but said it also detected “malicious” activity elsewhere in the US.

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Since mid-2021, stealth attacks carried out by China-backed attackers dubbed “Bolt Typhoon” have enabled long-term espionage operations, aimed at thwarting the United States in the event of regional conflict. The paper said it was likely.

“Microsoft has some confidence that this Bolt Typhoon campaign seeks to develop capabilities that could disrupt critical telecommunications infrastructure between the United States and the Asian region in the event of a future crisis. We appreciate it,” he said in a statement.

“Organizations affected by this campaign span the telecommunications, manufacturing, utilities, transportation, construction, maritime, government, information technology and education sectors,” the statement added.

Microsoft’s statement came alongside advisories released by authorities in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, warning that hacks may be occurring around the world, Standard Media reported.

“This activity impacted networks in critical infrastructure areas in the United States, and the authors believe attackers may apply the same techniques to these areas and other areas around the world. there is,” he said.

The United States and its allies said the campaign included “living off the land” tactics that make use of built-in networking tools that blend into regular Windows systems.

He warned that the hack could include legitimate system administration commands that appear “harmless.”

Microsoft said the Bolt Typhoon attack tried to blend in with normal network activity by routing traffic through compromised small office and home office network equipment such as routers, firewalls and VPN hardware. reported by Standard Media.

“They have also been observed using custom versions of open source tools,” Microsoft said.

Microsoft and security agencies have released guidelines to help organizations detect and combat hacks.

Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said China has been stealing intellectual property and data around the world for years.

“Today’s recommendations, issued jointly with the United States and international partners, reflect just how sophisticated China is using to target our nation’s critical infrastructure,” Easterly said.

China did not immediately respond to the allegations. However, Standard Media reports that the company has always denied carrying out state-sponsored cyberattacks.

Meanwhile, China regularly accuses the United States of cyber espionage. (Ani)