US Names One of the Hackers Allegedly Behind Massive Salt Typhoon Breaches
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Summary
This week, the US imposed sanctions on Chinese citizen Yin Kecheng, who has been accused of being actively involved in the breach of nine US telecommunications companies conducted by Chinese hackers, also known as “Salt Typhoon”.
The US also imposed sanctions on Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology, a company linked to Salt Typhoon.
This campaign reportedly gave Chinese hackers access to real-time texts and phone calls of key Americans, including president-elect Donald Trump and vice president-elect J D Vance.
The US Treasury is still attempting to ascertain the extent of the intrusion in its own systems by these hackers, after it was found they had stolen more than 3,000 files from at least 400 of its PCs.
It is believed the hackers were targeting sanctions and law-enforcement related information, as well as other intelligence materials.
Separately, the FBI has taken steps to delete malware known as PlugX from 4,200 computers worldwide.
The malware has been circulating for a decade and has been used by Chinese state-sponsored hackers to target dissidents.