Security News
The United Stations Federal Communications Commission has labelled Kaspersky, China Mobile, and China Telecom as threats to national security. Kaspersky is the first non-Chinese company to be added to the FCC's list, but the agency did not tie its decision to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The Federal Communications Commission has revoked China Unicom Americas' license, one of the world's largest mobile service providers, over "Serious national security concerns." China Unicom Americas is the largest foreign subsidiary of China Unicom, a Chinese state-owned telecom company.
The Federal Communications Commission has proposed more rigorous data breach reporting requirements for telecom carriers in response to breaches that recently hit the telecommunications industry. "I look forward to having my colleagues join me in taking a fresh look at our data breach reporting rules to better protect consumers, increase security, and reduce the impact of future breaches."
"Based on process lineage data, attackers seemed to use scripts extensively. These may be automated scripts used for collecting information and downloading additional tools," explains Symantec's report. Hidec: Command line tool for running a hidden window.
The US subsidiary of China Telecom has filed an emergency appeal it hopes will prevent the impending revocation of the company's license to operate in the USA, which the The US Federal Communications Commission terminated in October on grounds the carrier is a national security threat. The FCC terminated China Telecom Americas Corporation's authority to provide telecom services within the USA on October 26, citing the telecom's potential for exploitation, influence and control by the Chinese government and other national security risks, such as the ability to access or disrupt US communication leading to espionage and other harmful activities.
In 2021, over 59 million Americans said they lost money as a result of phone scams, with an average reported loss of $502. "Fraud is a major consideration in the telecom industry," said Dr. Gadi Solotorevsky, CTO at Amdocs cVidya, an AI solutions provider. In past practice, the telecom industry handled fraud complaints manually.
A state-sponsored threat actor allegedly affiliated with Iran has been linked to a series of targeted attacks aimed at internet service providers and telecommunication operators in Israel, Morocco, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia, as well as a ministry of foreign affairs in Africa, new findings reveal. The intrusions, staged by a group tracked as Lyceum, are believed to have occurred between July and October 2021, researchers from Accenture Cyber Threat Intelligence group and Prevailion's Adversarial Counterintelligence Team said in a technical report.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has responded with mild indignation to the USA's decision to revoke the operating licence that allowed China Telcom to operate in the land of the free. In a Wednesday statement, the Ministry accused the USA of using national security as a pretext for banning Chinese companies, complained that evidence of China Telecom's alleged misdeeds has not been furnished, and that the ban breaches international trade rules.
China Telecom Americas is the largest foreign subsidiary of China Telecom Corporation, China's state-owned telecom company. "Indeed, the FCC's own review found that China Telecom Americas poses significant national security concerns due to its control and ownership by the Chinese government, including its susceptibility to complying with communist China's intelligence and cybersecurity laws that are contrary to the interests of the United States."
The US Federal Communications Commission has terminated China Telecom's authority to provide communications services in the USA. In its announcement of the termination, the government agency explained the decision is necessary because the national security environment has changed in the years since 2002. That was when China Telecom was first allowed to operate in the USA. The FCC now believes - partly based on classified advice from national security agencies - that China Telecom can "Access, store, disrupt, and/or misroute U.S. communications, which in turn allow them to engage in espionage and other harmful activities against the United States".