January 30, 2024 at 01:24PM
The US Justice Department and FBI reportedly thwarted Chinese state-sponsored hackers targeting American critical infrastructure by obtaining a court order to remotely disable aspects of the Chinese hacking campaign. The hackers used vulnerable Internet-facing devices to access networks and steal sensitive data, prompting concerns about potential disruption of US critical networks.
Based on the meeting notes, the key points are:
– The US Justice Department and FBI have reportedly scored a win over Chinese state-sponsored hackers attempting to breach American critical infrastructure.
– The Feds’ operations have been ongoing over the past few months, with a court order granting permission to remotely disable aspects of the Chinese hacking campaign.
– The hacking campaign by Volt Typhoon targeted US critical infrastructure organizations, accessing networks via vulnerable Internet-facing devices and using command line tools to steal credentials and sensitive data.
– Concerns have been raised about the potential for Chinese hackers to disrupt US critical networks, including military installations, utilities, and internet service providers, especially in the event of a conflict related to China’s actions towards Taiwan.
– A CISA emergency directive has been issued, requiring federal agencies to apply mitigations to Ivanti Connect Secure devices after reports of these VPNs being hacked by Chinese nation-state attackers.
– There is a persistent concern about China-backed criminals targeting government networks and specific types of devices, with Chinese actors like Volt Typhoon being identified as potential perpetrators.
These takeaways provide a concise summary of the important information from the meeting notes.