Global telecoms firms hacked in espionage campaign linked to previous Chinese spying efforts, say US-based cybersecurity researchers
- Investigators at Cybereason, a US-Israeli cybersecurity firm based in Boston, say a state-backed group has been hacking into the systems of global telecommunications firms to spy on prominent individuals
- The hackers also used tools linked to other attacks attributed to China by the US and its Western allies, said Cybereason
A group of state-backed hackers has been burrowing into the systems of telecommunications companies to spy on high-profile targets across the world, a US-based cybersecurity firm said on Tuesday, identifying links to previous Chinese cyber-espionage campaigns.
Investigators at Cybereason, a US-Israeli cybersecurity firm based in Boston, said the tactic gave the hackers sweeping access to the call records, location data and device information from prominent individuals in government, law-enforcement and politics, effectively turning the targets’ mobile phone providers against them.
Div said that because customers were not directly targeted, they might never discover their every movement was being monitored by a hostile power.
The hackers had turned the affected telecoms into “a global surveillance system”, Div said in a telephone interview ahead of the report’s launch.