An unusually broad coalition composed of the United States, its traditional English-speaking allies and other nations including Germany, Italy and Japan is calling out three Chinese companies over alleged hacking activity. In a 37-page advisory published August 27, the countries accused the firms Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology, Beijing Huanyu Tianqiong Information Technology and Sichuan Zhixin Ruijie Network Technology of providing “cyber-related products and services to China’s intelligence services, including multiple units in the People’s Liberation Army and Ministry of State Security.”
Sichuan Juxinhe already had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury over its alleged ties to a hacking group nicknamed Salt Typhoon, which has been accused of gobbling up vast amounts of U.S. residents’ call records, including communications from senior leadership in Washington. Beijing Huanyu Tianqiong and Sichuan Zhixin Ruijie both were allegedly hit by recent, and so far, unexplained, data leaks.
Although U.S. officials have been complaining of China-linked hacking activity for decades, the breaches attributed to Salt Typhoon have stood out as particularly sweeping. One senator last year described its scope as “mind-boggling.” Another said it likely represented “the largest telecommunications hack in our nation’s history.”
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published August 27, the FBI’s top cyber official, Brett Leatherman, said Salt Typhoon was responsible for “one of the more consequential cyber espionage breaches we have seen here in the United States.” The Journal said the hackers targeted more than 80 countries and had shown varying levels of interest in more than 600 companies.
The United States regularly calls out Chinese and other foreign entities over their alleged involvement in cyber espionage, and it has occasionally done so in conjunction with other members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance: Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.