Volt Typhoon Splashes on US Water! Patch Now or Drown in Beijing's Cyber Waves

This is your China Hack Report: Daily US Tech Defense podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here, hacking away at your daily cyber defense digest—because nothing says "Sunday relaxation" like drinking cold brew while live-tracking PRC malware across American water plants. It’s August 10th, 2025, and trust me, the cyber dragons are far from napping.

Fasten your seatbelts, because the big headline today is ultra-targeted: Chinese government-backed Volt Typhoon actors have dug deeper into US critical infrastructure, aiming for not just major cities, but every little water utility you’ve never heard of. DEF CON hackers and the Franklin project are on a roll, frantically plugging security leaks in these overlooked water systems, some of which support military bases and key hospitals. Why are small systems suddenly Beijing’s playfield? Because attackers know they’re less protected and can use their connected devices to hopscotch around US networks. That’s not a Hollywood scenario—attacks are happening right now, and the vulnerability window is as wide as the Mississippi, thanks in part to recent funding cuts for core industry watchdogs like the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

So, what’s in the threat soup in the last 24 hours? CISA just banged the alarm with an emergency directive on a newly surfaced Microsoft Exchange hybrid config vulnerability. Federal agencies are being told: patch or perish by tomorrow, August 11th, no exceptions. If your inbox is running Exchange in any hybrid setup, run those recommended scripts and lock down those admin portals faster than you can say “spearphish.” Simultaneously, three old-yet-exploited vulnerabilities in D-Link Wi-Fi cameras just landed back in CISA’s Known Exploited list. If your network still sports D-Link DCS-2530L or 2670Ls, or a DNR-322L video recorder, patch them now. Yes, I see you, facilities IT managers—the attackers sure do.

Meanwhile, national debate is all about clandestine warfare under the ocean. Security experts and the East Turkestan government-in-exile are warning that China’s grip on undersea cables isn’t about faster TikTok memes—it’s about Beijing having physical and digital leverage over global traffic. Western democracies are finally waking up to the risk of entire economies, not just Facebook feeds, being blackmailed in a crisis.

Now, recommended actions straight from the top: CISA and sector partners urge everyone in critical sectors—water, energy, even small-town utilities—to do emergency patching, triple-check identity and access controls, and hunt for any “dormant service accounts” that could be abused. CISA’s also spotlighting poor hygiene in Microsoft 365 and overly-permissive cloud accounts that make it comically easy for attackers to go domain admin.

One final grenade in the chip war: while China complains about Nvidia’s allegedly suspicious H20 chips, US officials refuse to budge on AI chip export controls, tying the fate of advanced hardware to both trade and national security.

That’s all cyber drama I can squeeze before this coffee wears off. Thanks for tuning in—don’t forget to subscribe and share, because the only thing scarier than a zero-day is missing an episode. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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