China Admits Volt Typhoon Hack Telecom Firms Targeted by Salt Typhoon Cyber Espionage Surges 150 Percent

This is your Digital Dragon Watch: Weekly China Cyber Alert podcast.

*Hello cyber sentinels! This is Ting with your Digital Dragon Watch for May 6th, 2025. Let's dive right into the cyber typhoon churning through our digital waters this week.*

The biggest splash in our cyber pond remains the fallout from China's shocking admission about the Volt Typhoon campaign. Just last month, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Chinese officials acknowledged conducting these attacks during a secret Geneva meeting in December. According to sources, these cyberattacks were intended as a warning to the US about supporting Taiwan - essentially a digital flexing of muscles to deter American involvement in potential cross-strait conflicts.

What's particularly concerning is the scope of Volt Typhoon's infiltration. These hackers managed to lurk in the US electric grid for a staggering 300 days in 2023, targeting critical sectors including communications, manufacturing, utilities, government systems, and transportation infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Salt Typhoon - another China-backed threat group - has been on a telecommunications hacking spree. Recorded Future's research shows they compromised five telecom providers globally between December and January, including two US-based companies. Their method? Exploiting unpatched Cisco edge devices using known vulnerabilities like CVE-2023-20198 and CVE-2023-20273. They've even targeted major universities including UCLA and California State University.

The broader trend is alarming - Chinese cyber espionage surged by 150% overall in 2024, with some sectors experiencing up to 300% increases in attacks. Financial services, manufacturing, industrial systems, and media outlets are bearing the brunt of this digital onslaught.

On China's side, they're claiming victimhood too. Chinese reports suggest foreign APTs launched over 1,300 cyberattacks targeting 14 key sectors within China during 2024, particularly focusing on government, education, research, and defense.

In terms of new tactics, we're seeing increased sophistication in evading detection. Many attackers are embedding themselves in legitimate cloud services like Dropbox for command and control operations, making them harder to spot in network traffic.

For protection, experts recommend prioritizing patching of edge devices - particularly Cisco systems with known vulnerabilities. Organizations should also implement rigorous monitoring of cloud service connections and unusual data transfers.

Remember folks, in this digital chess game, the dragon isn't just breathing fire - it's systematically mapping the board. Stay vigilant, patch those systems, and keep your eyes on the traffic leaving your network.

This is Ting signing off. Keep your firewalls high and your patches current!

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