The news: Chinese government-sponsored hackers Salt Typhoon reportedly breached several large US internet service providers (ISPs), including AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies (also known as CenturyLink), per The Wall Street Journal.
The earliest breach was recorded on June 12. The breaches may have allowed hackers to access information from the federal government, including court-authorized network wiretap requests. It’s not yet known whether these breaches contributed to any of the massive outages experienced in the US this year.
In February, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and National Security Agency (NSA) flagged Salt Typhoon as a major Chinese hacking threat that’s been active in US networks for up to five years.