Priya PatelTLDR: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and other federal agencies have issued a joint cybersecurity advisory warning that a Chinese-based hacking group known as Volt Typhoon has compromised the IT environments of multiple US critical infrastructure organizations. The group has been operating for at least five years and is using sophisticated techniques to avoid detection. The agencies have called on all organizations to implement cybersecurity measures to detect and mitigate these intrusions.
The key details of the advisory and guidance are as follows:
- A Chinese-based hacking group, Volt Typhoon, has compromised the IT environments of multiple US critical infrastructure organizations
- The group has maintained footholds in victim IT environments for at least five years
- The agencies have evidence that the group is pre-positioning for future disruptive or destructive cyberattacks
- Volt Typhoon is using “living off the land techniques” to avoid detection
- The group is targeting major critical infrastructure sectors such as communications, manufacturing, utilities, transit, transportation, construction, maritime, government IT, and education
- The agencies have released joint guidance to help organizations detect and mitigate living off the land activity
- Specific actions recommended include patching internet-facing systems, implementing multi-factor authentication, and enabling logging for application, access, and security logs
The agencies emphasize the urgency of implementing these measures to protect national security, economic security, and public health and safety. They also stress the importance of collaboration and information sharing between government and industry partners to identify and remediate these intrusions.
