Advisory warns of activity by Chinese state-sponsored cyber actors

Chinese state-sponsored cyber actors are maliciously targeting networks globally, including telecommunications, government and others, according to a joint advisory released Aug. 27 by the National Security Agency, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FBI, Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center and international agencies. The agencies said the actors focus on targeting large network routers and also leverage compromised devices and trusted connections to access other networks. The threat actors often modify routers to maintain long-term network access. The agencies said that threat groups known for this activity include Salt Typhoon, OPERATOR PANDA, RedMike, UNC5807 and GhostEmperor, among others.

“This alert details one of the largest global cyber espionage campaigns ever uncovered related to the Chinese government,” said John Riggi, AHA national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. “U.S. health care may be directly or indirectly impacted by this espionage and potentially disruptive cyberattack on critical infrastructure, and should take aggressive action to identify, contain, remediate and report to the FBI known instances of these malware strains appearing on health care networks or third-party networks.”

For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact Riggi at jriggi@aha.org. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit aha.org/cybersecurity.