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Cyber Siege! China Hacks Telcos, Steals Wiretaps & Secrets
This is your Dragon's Code: America Under Cyber Siege podcast.
You know it’s been a weird week when your morning coffee is interrupted by General Timothy Haugh from the NSA sounding the cyber-siege alarm—again. In the last few days, Dragon’s Code was very much alive as Chinese cyber operatives dialed up the sophistication in their attacks on US infrastructure. I’m Ting, your favorite China-and-cyber connoisseur, with the scoop on America’s digital battlefield.
The highlight? According to The Wall Street Journal, hackers linked to China managed to penetrate AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies. The suspected prize: not just customer data, but actual wiretap warrant requests—a move straight out of a cyber-thriller. Timothy Haugh confirmed these investigations are fresh, with national security agencies collaborating closely with partners like Microsoft and Mandiant. Attribution here comes from digital forensics, command-and-control infrastructure analysis, and telltale malware usage that screams “Beijing’s in the house.” Of course, the Chinese Embassy denies everything and accuses the US of “politicizing cybersecurity issues”—because what else do you say when caught red-handed?
Attack methodology? Let’s geek out for a second. These incursions don’t just involve old-school phishing—though, let me tell you, Check Point Research spotted a 4000% surge in phishing since generative AI hit the scene. But this week’s headline acts leaned heavily on exploiting zero-day flaws in border devices, abusing remote access, and dropping custom payloads designed specifically to avoid detection. The hackers went after telco backbone systems, giving them access not just to metadata, but the communications most folks assume are untouchable. Some experts, including those from Mandiant, call this “access-as-power”—where stealing data is just the warm-up act for sabotage or strategic intelligence collection.
On defense, CISA and DHS have been hustling. They ramped up cross-sector threat sharing—thank you, CISA 2015, though Congress is cutting it close with reauthorization!—and pushed new rapid-response protocols for telecoms, requiring segmented networks and AI-driven anomaly detection. Oh, and in case you missed it, OpenAI just signed a $200 million deal with the DoD to throw some artificial intelligence muscle into America’s cyber shield. FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel reminded everyone that old-school rules are useless against these new threats, and Congress held marathon hearings pressing agencies on their readiness.
Experts agree the main lesson is bitter but clear: infrastructure is only as strong as its weakest digital link. “China’s cyberspace workforce is the world’s largest,” said General Haugh—think: techies with government budgets and diplomatic cover. The only way to keep up? Total public-private teamwork, regulatory gloves off, and vigilance everywhere from the cloud to the undersea cables connecting Taiwan and beyond. The bipartisan Taiwan Undersea Cable Resilience Initiative Act is just the latest example of how seriously lawmakers are taking hybrid Chinese threats on infrastructure.
That’s it for this week in the Dragon’s Code saga! Ting signing off—thanks for tuning in, don’t forget to subscribe, and remember: this has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.
For more http://www.quietplease.ai
Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta
You know it’s been a weird week when your morning coffee is interrupted by General Timothy Haugh from the NSA sounding the cyber-siege alarm—again. In the last few days, Dragon’s Code was very much alive as Chinese cyber operatives dialed up the sophistication in their attacks on US infrastructure. I’m Ting, your favorite China-and-cyber connoisseur, with the scoop on America’s digital battlefield.
The highlight? According to The Wall Street Journal, hackers linked to China managed to penetrate AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies. The suspected prize: not just customer data, but actual wiretap warrant requests—a move straight out of a cyber-thriller. Timothy Haugh confirmed these investigations are fresh, with national security agencies collaborating closely with partners like Microsoft and Mandiant. Attribution here comes from digital forensics, command-and-control infrastructure analysis, and telltale malware usage that screams “Beijing’s in the house.” Of course, the Chinese Embassy denies everything and accuses the US of “politicizing cybersecurity issues”—because what else do you say when caught red-handed?
Attack methodology? Let’s geek out for a second. These incursions don’t just involve old-school phishing—though, let me tell you, Check Point Research spotted a 4000% surge in phishing since generative AI hit the scene. But this week’s headline acts leaned heavily on exploiting zero-day flaws in border devices, abusing remote access, and dropping custom payloads designed specifically to avoid detection. The hackers went after telco backbone systems, giving them access not just to metadata, but the communications most folks assume are untouchable. Some experts, including those from Mandiant, call this “access-as-power”—where stealing data is just the warm-up act for sabotage or strategic intelligence collection.
On defense, CISA and DHS have been hustling. They ramped up cross-sector threat sharing—thank you, CISA 2015, though Congress is cutting it close with reauthorization!—and pushed new rapid-response protocols for telecoms, requiring segmented networks and AI-driven anomaly detection. Oh, and in case you missed it, OpenAI just signed a $200 million deal with the DoD to throw some artificial intelligence muscle into America’s cyber shield. FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel reminded everyone that old-school rules are useless against these new threats, and Congress held marathon hearings pressing agencies on their readiness.
Experts agree the main lesson is bitter but clear: infrastructure is only as strong as its weakest digital link. “China’s cyberspace workforce is the world’s largest,” said General Haugh—think: techies with government budgets and diplomatic cover. The only way to keep up? Total public-private teamwork, regulatory gloves off, and vigilance everywhere from the cloud to the undersea cables connecting Taiwan and beyond. The bipartisan Taiwan Undersea Cable Resilience Initiative Act is just the latest example of how seriously lawmakers are taking hybrid Chinese threats on infrastructure.
That’s it for this week in the Dragon’s Code saga! Ting signing off—thanks for tuning in, don’t forget to subscribe, and remember: this has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.
For more http://www.quietplease.ai
Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta
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By Quiet. PleaseThis is your Dragon's Code: America Under Cyber Siege podcast.
You know it’s been a weird week when your morning coffee is interrupted by General Timothy Haugh from the NSA sounding the cyber-siege alarm—again. In the last few days, Dragon’s Code was very much alive as Chinese cyber operatives dialed up the sophistication in their attacks on US infrastructure. I’m Ting, your favorite China-and-cyber connoisseur, with the scoop on America’s digital battlefield.
The highlight? According to The Wall Street Journal, hackers linked to China managed to penetrate AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies. The suspected prize: not just customer data, but actual wiretap warrant requests—a move straight out of a cyber-thriller. Timothy Haugh confirmed these investigations are fresh, with national security agencies collaborating closely with partners like Microsoft and Mandiant. Attribution here comes from digital forensics, command-and-control infrastructure analysis, and telltale malware usage that screams “Beijing’s in the house.” Of course, the Chinese Embassy denies everything and accuses the US of “politicizing cybersecurity issues”—because what else do you say when caught red-handed?
Attack methodology? Let’s geek out for a second. These incursions don’t just involve old-school phishing—though, let me tell you, Check Point Research spotted a 4000% surge in phishing since generative AI hit the scene. But this week’s headline acts leaned heavily on exploiting zero-day flaws in border devices, abusing remote access, and dropping custom payloads designed specifically to avoid detection. The hackers went after telco backbone systems, giving them access not just to metadata, but the communications most folks assume are untouchable. Some experts, including those from Mandiant, call this “access-as-power”—where stealing data is just the warm-up act for sabotage or strategic intelligence collection.
On defense, CISA and DHS have been hustling. They ramped up cross-sector threat sharing—thank you, CISA 2015, though Congress is cutting it close with reauthorization!—and pushed new rapid-response protocols for telecoms, requiring segmented networks and AI-driven anomaly detection. Oh, and in case you missed it, OpenAI just signed a $200 million deal with the DoD to throw some artificial intelligence muscle into America’s cyber shield. FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel reminded everyone that old-school rules are useless against these new threats, and Congress held marathon hearings pressing agencies on their readiness.
Experts agree the main lesson is bitter but clear: infrastructure is only as strong as its weakest digital link. “China’s cyberspace workforce is the world’s largest,” said General Haugh—think: techies with government budgets and diplomatic cover. The only way to keep up? Total public-private teamwork, regulatory gloves off, and vigilance everywhere from the cloud to the undersea cables connecting Taiwan and beyond. The bipartisan Taiwan Undersea Cable Resilience Initiative Act is just the latest example of how seriously lawmakers are taking hybrid Chinese threats on infrastructure.
That’s it for this week in the Dragon’s Code saga! Ting signing off—thanks for tuning in, don’t forget to subscribe, and remember: this has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.
For more http://www.quietplease.ai
Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta
You know it’s been a weird week when your morning coffee is interrupted by General Timothy Haugh from the NSA sounding the cyber-siege alarm—again. In the last few days, Dragon’s Code was very much alive as Chinese cyber operatives dialed up the sophistication in their attacks on US infrastructure. I’m Ting, your favorite China-and-cyber connoisseur, with the scoop on America’s digital battlefield.
The highlight? According to The Wall Street Journal, hackers linked to China managed to penetrate AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies. The suspected prize: not just customer data, but actual wiretap warrant requests—a move straight out of a cyber-thriller. Timothy Haugh confirmed these investigations are fresh, with national security agencies collaborating closely with partners like Microsoft and Mandiant. Attribution here comes from digital forensics, command-and-control infrastructure analysis, and telltale malware usage that screams “Beijing’s in the house.” Of course, the Chinese Embassy denies everything and accuses the US of “politicizing cybersecurity issues”—because what else do you say when caught red-handed?
Attack methodology? Let’s geek out for a second. These incursions don’t just involve old-school phishing—though, let me tell you, Check Point Research spotted a 4000% surge in phishing since generative AI hit the scene. But this week’s headline acts leaned heavily on exploiting zero-day flaws in border devices, abusing remote access, and dropping custom payloads designed specifically to avoid detection. The hackers went after telco backbone systems, giving them access not just to metadata, but the communications most folks assume are untouchable. Some experts, including those from Mandiant, call this “access-as-power”—where stealing data is just the warm-up act for sabotage or strategic intelligence collection.
On defense, CISA and DHS have been hustling. They ramped up cross-sector threat sharing—thank you, CISA 2015, though Congress is cutting it close with reauthorization!—and pushed new rapid-response protocols for telecoms, requiring segmented networks and AI-driven anomaly detection. Oh, and in case you missed it, OpenAI just signed a $200 million deal with the DoD to throw some artificial intelligence muscle into America’s cyber shield. FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel reminded everyone that old-school rules are useless against these new threats, and Congress held marathon hearings pressing agencies on their readiness.
Experts agree the main lesson is bitter but clear: infrastructure is only as strong as its weakest digital link. “China’s cyberspace workforce is the world’s largest,” said General Haugh—think: techies with government budgets and diplomatic cover. The only way to keep up? Total public-private teamwork, regulatory gloves off, and vigilance everywhere from the cloud to the undersea cables connecting Taiwan and beyond. The bipartisan Taiwan Undersea Cable Resilience Initiative Act is just the latest example of how seriously lawmakers are taking hybrid Chinese threats on infrastructure.
That’s it for this week in the Dragon’s Code saga! Ting signing off—thanks for tuning in, don’t forget to subscribe, and remember: this has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.
For more http://www.quietplease.ai
Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta