People observe the scenery near the Chinese national flag raised during National Day celebrations in Chongqing, China, October 3, 2024. National Day Golden Week is a Chinese holiday commemorating the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Chen Xin | Getty Images
The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that a U.S. broadband provider’s network was compromised in a Chinese government-linked cyberattack targeting wiretapping requests.
The attack may have allowed China to obtain information about the U.S. federal government’s court-approved network wiretapping requests, the newspaper reported.
The Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the hackers may have had access to networks used by the United States for legitimate requests for communications data for several months.
China denies claims by Western governments and technology companies that it uses hackers to access government information.
According to the paper, government officials are concerned that such cyber attacks could be used to disrupt U.S. systems in the event of a conflict between China and the United States.
The cyber breach, carried out by a Chinese hacker group known as Salt Typhoon, poses a significant national security risk, WSJ reported.
The FBI did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Read the Wall Street Journal article here.
