Cyber Threats
Exclusive

Lawmakers seek DHS records in probe of US response to Chinese cyber campaigns

The House Homeland Security Committee wants DHS to provide internal documents on China’s Volt and Salt Typhoon hacking units, according to a letter being sent Monday.

Republicans urge Trump admin to launch offensive cyber operations against China

The letter cites high-profile Chinese intrusions into U.S. systems that have made headlines in recent months. Trump’s national security officials have expressed a desire to engage in offensive cyber ops against adversaries.

US charges 12 Chinese nationals for hacks into government systems

Some of the people have ties to i-Soon, the Chinese tech firm whose hacking-for-hire activities were exposed in a leak last year. Others are linked to Silk Typhoon, a hacking unit that recently breached the Treasury Department.

Salt Typhoon hackers exploited stolen credentials and a 7-year-old software flaw in Cisco systems

The Chinese hacking collective has widely leveraged vulnerabilities in communications infrastructure to breach dozens of telecom providers in the U.S. and overseas.

FBI notified over 4,300 victims of ‘pig butchering’ crypto scams in past year

After victims are tricked into buying crypto, they are shown fake online accounts with fictitious returns while the stolen funds are moved offshore, an FBI official said.

Salt Typhoon hackers possibly targeted telecom research at US universities

Recorded Future’s latest findings shed light on how widespread the Salt Typhoon campaign has become since it was uncovered last year.

Trump to nominate former RNC official to be national cyber director

It’s not clear how Sean Cairncross would address ongoing ONCD efforts, as the Trump administration has sought to refocus certain cyber priorities in the federal government.

AI-cybersecurity firm Andesite secures added $23M in funding

The company, which is led by former CIA officials and other ex-national intelligence chiefs, also unveiled a new security operations center product, the firm first told Nextgov/FCW.

Lawmakers move to ban DeepSeek’s AI from government devices

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., charged that China is using DeepSeek “to steal the sensitive data of U.S. citizens.”

Senate confirms Kristi Noem to head Trump’s DHS

Noem is likely to direct a reevaluation of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s spending priorities, amid GOP accusations that the agency censored conservative views online.

US sanctions Chinese firm behind sweeping Salt Typhoon telecom hacks

The Treasury Department also sanctioned an individual involved in recent Chinese hacks into its own systems.

Salt Typhoon breach was first detected on federal networks, CISA head says

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly said the group was first detected “before we understood it was Salt Typhoon.”

FBI deleted Chinese malware from 4,200 US computers

The malware’s command server appears to be based in Tokyo and was accessed by French authorities who helped craft the code needed to remove the infection.

Exclusive

GAO mulls cost evaluation of nationwide telecom hardware replacement

One major vulnerability exploited by China’s Salt Typhoon hacking unit is a Cisco hardware flaw that can’t be patched and requires physical replacement, according to a person with knowledge of the intrusions.

US sanctions Chinese company that helped facilitate espionage hacks

Integrity Technology Group, known to researchers as Flax Typhoon, contracted with China’s Ministry of State Security to carry out infiltrations into internet of things devices, the FBI previously said.

Chinese-sponsored hackers accessed Treasury documents in ‘major incident’

The incident comes in the final days of the Biden presidency and as officials work to root out China-tied hackers from U.S. telecommunications systems.