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(Reuters) – Chinese hackers gained access to the networks of U.S. broadband providers and obtained information from systems used by the federal government for court-authorized wiretapping, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
Telecommunications companies whose networks were compromised in the recently discovered intrusion include Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The hackers may have had access for months to network infrastructure used by companies to assist with court-approved U.S. communications data requests, the paper said. The hackers said they also accessed other parts of Internet traffic.
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday it was not aware of the attacks described in the report, but said the United States had “fabricated false stories” in the past to “trap” China.
“At a time when cybersecurity has become a common challenge for countries around the world, this misguided approach undermines the international community’s efforts to jointly address this challenge through dialogue and cooperation,” the ministry said in a statement to Reuters. It will only hinder you.”
The Chinese government has previously denied claims by the U.S. government and others that it used hackers to break into foreign computer systems.
Verizon, AT&T and Lumen Technologies did not respond to requests for comment.
The paper said the attack was carried out by a Chinese hacker group with the aim of gathering information. U.S. law enforcement authorities dubbed it the “Salt Typhoon.”
Earlier this year, U.S. law enforcement agencies confronted China’s leading hacker group, dubbed “Flax Typhoon,” months after confronting the Chinese government over its extensive cyberespionage efforts under a campaign dubbed “Bolt Typhoon.” interfered with.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the Chinese government’s cybersecurity agency has discovered and published evidence showing that Bolt Typhoon was orchestrated by an “international ransomware organization.”
(Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bangalore and Beijing newsrooms; Editing by Edmund Claman and William Mallard)
