Microsoft discovered espionage by Chinese hackers against critical infrastructure on the island of Guam and in the United States

Microsoft Corp. China says it has uncovered malicious activity by a state-sponsored hacking group that secretly accessed critical infrastructure in Guam and elsewhere in the U.S., potentially blocking critical communications in the event of a crisis.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Microsoft team made the call Volt Typhoon, targeting companies in the manufacturing, construction, maritime, government, IT and education sectors, has been active since mid-2021. Microsoft “directly notified affected or compromised customers” and admitted “in reasonable confidence” that the move was to disrupt communications in the event of a future crisis.

The US island territory of Guam, 2,600 kilometers east of Manila, has become an increasingly important military and strategic center amid rising tensions with China, including the possibility that it could use its military to assert itself.

According to Microsoft, Volt Typhoon is owned by Sunnyvale, California-based cybersecurity firm Fortinet Inc. Targeted companies were first accessed through internet-connected devices manufactured by the company, and said they are continuing to investigate how the hackers were able to access the computers. . According to Microsoft, hackers used the privileges they were able to gain from Fortinet devices to extract additional credentials to authenticate other devices on networks.

There he isThe hackers intended to “carry out espionage and maintain access as undetected as possible.”Added by Microsoft.

A representative for Fortinet did not respond to a request for comment. A Microsoft spokesperson declined to provide further details about the report.

With information from Bloomberg

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