American authorities admit they do not know when telecom operators will be freed from Chinese interference.
The admission follows guidance from the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Australian Cyber Security Center on hardening networks against Chinese hackers.
Officials from the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI have urged people to turn to encrypted messaging apps to prevent their communications from being intercepted by Chinese malicious actors embedded in some of the largest telecommunications companies in the country.
CISA Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Jeff Greene joined a senior FBI official – who chose not to be named – on a press call to make the recommendation on December 3.
“Our suggestion, what we’ve been telling people internally, is not new here: Encryption is your friend, whether it’s on text messaging or if you have the ability to use encrypted voice communication. Even if the adversary is able to intercept the data, if it is encrypted it will make the operation impossible,” Greene told the media.
According to Greene, it is currently impossible “to predict when we will have a full expulsion.”
The FBI official said that while the current campaign is quite large, it remains largely traditional.
“We view this as a cyberespionage campaign, similar to other approaches. Certainly the way they did it was very, very specific to telecom operators and ISPs, but it falls within the framework of cyberespionage,” the official said.
The FBI official added that keeping smartphones updated was a smart choice in today’s environment.
“Individuals looking to further protect their mobile device communications would benefit from considering a cell phone that automatically receives timely operating system updates, responsibly managed encryption, and tamper-resistant multi-factor authentication. phishing for email, social media and collaboration tool accounts,” the official said.
The same day, CISA and its partners – including the Australian Cyber Security Center at the Australian Signals Directorate – released guidance on protecting networks from PRC-affiliated threat actors and improving visibility into their networks. activities.
The advice – Improved visibility and hardening guidance for communications infrastructure – offers advice on monitoring techniques to network engineers and defenders, as well as protocols and management processes to actively harden networks against cyberespionage.
“CISA and its partners encourage network advocates and communications infrastructure engineers, as well as other critical infrastructure organizations with on-premises enterprise equipment, to review and apply the best practices provided, including “patching vulnerable devices and services to reduce the risk of intrusion,” CISA said. in a statement.
