Meet the Spies — Global Security Review Meet the Spies %

China had “persistent” access to U.S. critical infrastructure

GSR Staff — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 12:43:08 +0000

China-backed hackers have had access to some major U.S. critical infrastructure for “at least five years,” according to an intelligence advisory released Wednesday.

Why it matters: The hacking campaign laid out in the report marks a sharp escalation in China’s willingness to seize U.S. infrastructure — going beyond the typical effort to steal state secrets.

The advisory provides the fullest picture to-date of how a key China hacking group has gained and maintained access to some U.S. critical infrastructure.

Details: The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation released an advisory Wednesday to warn critical infrastructure operators about China’s ongoing hacking interests.

According to the advisory, China-backed hacking group Volt Typhoon has been exploiting vulnerabilities in routers, firewalls and VPNs to target water, transportation, energy and communications systems across the country.
The group has relied heavily on stolen administrator credentials to maintain access to the systems — and in some cases it has maintained access for “at least five years,” per the advisory.
Volt Typhoon has been seen controlling some victims’ surveillance camera systems, and its access could have allowed the group to disrupt critical energy and water controls.

Of note: Volt Typhoon uses so-called “living off the land” techniques that limit any trace of their activities on a network — making the actors more difficult to detect.

China had “persistent” access to U.S. critical infrastructure was originally published on Global Security Review.

Chinese Nationals Posing as Tourists Have Accessed US Military Bases and Other Sensitive Sites: Report

GSR Staff — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 12:40:07 +0000

Chinese nationals, who sometimes posed as tourists, accessed U.S. military bases and other sensitive sites around 100 times in recent years, according to an exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper cited U.S. officials, who described the incidents as potential forms of espionage.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Defense, FBI, and other agencies held a review to try to curb the frequency of these breaches, which involved unauthorized entries into US military bases and other federal sites, the newspaper reported.

Chinese Nationals Posing as Tourists Have Accessed US Military Bases and Other Sensitive Sites: Report was originally published on Global Security Review.

Chinese ‘Police Station Spy Network in the U.S.

GSR Staff — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 12:38:34 +0000

The FBI helped shut down a clandestine Chinese “police station” in Manhattan after the arrest of two alleged operatives in 2023. In addition to the Chinese police station above a noodle restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown, there is another station at an undisclosed address in New York City, as well as an outpost in Los Angeles.

Image Courtesy of NY Post.

Chinese ‘Police Station Spy Network in the U.S. was originally published on Global Security Review.

The Cubans are more disciplined and more effective pound-for-pound than the KGB ever was

GSR Staff — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 20:15:20 +0000

It’s a point which came home to James Olson, former head of counterintelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in June 1987, when a Cuban spy, Florentino Aspillaga, walked into the US Embassy in Vienna and defected. The testimony he gave to the Americans shocked US intelligence chiefs and revealed the extent and calibre of Fidel Castro’s spying network.

The Cubans are more disciplined and more effective pound-for-pound than the KGB ever was was originally published on Global Security Review.

Ties to Russian Military and Russian Intelligence Agencies

GSR Staff — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 15:12:07 +0000

A citizen of the United States, Israel and Russia, and resident of Brooklyn, New York, and Los Angeles, California, was arrested yesterday in Los Angeles for his alleged involvement in a years-long scheme to secure and unlawfully export sensitive technology from the United States for the benefit of a Russian business.

Ties to Russian Military and Russian Intelligence Agencies was originally published on Global Security Review.