Not only did China hack “sensitive U.S. computer networks,” it seems they still have back door access. We’ve been targeted for months and one “top American cyber official” is “concerned” about the “scope and scale” of the intrusion.
Access to critical services
The current situation, National Security Agency Director of Cybersecurity Rob Joyce screams, is “unacceptable” because digital ninja’s “sought access to networks that might allow them to disrupt critical services in the future.”
The Chinese hack attack most recently revealed isn’t one of the ordinary snatch the data and go variety. This one was clearly backed by Beijing and “targeted key U.S. sectors like maritime and transportation networks.” That’s not good because we have a war brewing with them.
On Thursday, May 25, Joyce sat down for a disturbing interview with CNN. They know that the Chinese gained access. What they aren’t certain of is if it’s been closed back off.
New –> NSA cyber chief Rob Joyce tells CNN that a Chinese hacking campaign targeting Guam & elsewhere is "unacceptable" b/c it involved "prepositioning" against critical infrastructure w/ no apparent intel value. NSA has been investigating since last yr. https://t.co/gUotc5Zx3A
— Sean Lyngaas (@snlyngaas) May 26, 2023
Officials, Joyce notes, “are still trying to verify that Chinese hackers have been kicked out of networks they’ve broken into during the months-long campaign.” The NSA has been on the job since last year and keep making new discoveries in the network code.
They do know for certain that “Chinese hackers targeted an unnamed organization on the US Pacific territory of Guam.” They chose to access an obscure and vulnerable piece of hardware then exploit it from there.
It’s likely an “effort to develop capabilities that could disrupt ‘critical communications infrastructure‘ between the U.S. and Asia in the event of a crisis.”
Microsoft pulled the alarm
On Wednesday, Microsoft pulled the red buzzer on the wall, describing how the “targeting of critical infrastructure in Guam adds to ongoing U.S. concerns that China could be using its cyber capabilities in anticipation of a future conflict with the U.S. in the Pacific.” They didn’t need high paid analysts to figure that one out.
What they did reveal that was new and surprising is that some of the intrusions may have left behind “persistent access” back doors. The hackers “have tried to burrow into many organizations with no apparent intelligence value.” The reason they did that was “to ‘preposition‘ themselves in U.S. computer networks for potential future operations.”
Cybersecurity administrators scrambled to notify “infrastructure operators to check their networks for compromise.” The Pooh Bear denies everything and flipped it around to accuse us of hacking them. Which is probably true. Persistent back door access is something to be concerned about.
🔖🇨🇳➡️🇺🇸China hacking reports are US smear campaign, says Beijing: China's foreign ministry said that reports of Chinese hackers spying on critical US infrastructure are a disinformation campaign initiated by the United States. pic.twitter.com/QWa1oEMVPI
— worldnews24u (@worldnews24u) May 25, 2023
“It’s a new front in tensions in cyberspace that have permeated the U.S.-China relationship for years.” That’s the last thing we need since they aren’t talking to Antony Blinken. Even scarier, they ARE talking to John Kerry.
China isn’t the only one who would like to hack their way into our nuclear reactors and water supply computers. Russia has also “sought footholds in US critical infrastructure.”
When they aren’t busy colluding with Donald Trump, that is. The thing about this access breech which stood out to Joyce as an expert in the field is the extent. “I think the difference here is how brazen it is in scope and scale. So, we need to empower everybody to be able to defend against it.“
