Government cybersecurity authorities in the US and allied nations are sounding the alarm bell again over the Chinese hacking group known as Volt Typhoon.
In a joint advisory issued on Tuesday, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA), FBI, and eight international partners warned that the Beijing-backed Volt Typhoon gang may be gearing up for disruptive or destructive cyber strikes targeting critical infrastructure organisations.
“Volt Typhoon has been pre-positioning themselves on US critical infrastructure organisations’ networks to enable disruption or destruction of critical services in the event of increased geopolitical tensions and/or military conflict with the United States and its allies,” the advisory warns.
“This is a critical business risk for every organisation in the United States and allied countries.”
This latest alert comes just over a month after the same coalition of agencies revealed that Volt Typhoon had compromised the networks of multiple critical infrastructure victims in the US.
The alert recommends that organisations prioritise security efforts through tools like the Cybersecurity Performance Goals and engage with designated Sector Risk Management Agencies. It also urges implementing robust logging practices to detect stealthy “living off the land” techniques favoured by Volt Typhoon, which leverage legitimate software to blend into target environments.
Developing comprehensive incident response plans, conducting cybersecurity drills, and hardening supply chains are also highlighted as critical measures to thwart potential Volt Typhoon intrusions and attacks.
The repeated warnings underscore the grave concerns over Volt Typhoon’s capabilities and suspected destructive intentions against critical infrastructure providers in the US and allied nations amid heightened geopolitical tensions.
(Photo by Thomas Kelley)
See also: Nations demand tech firms tackle scammers
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