Salt Typhoon Hack: Take Aways

What is the Salt Typhoon?

Salt Typhoon is an advanced persistent threat actor believed to be operated by China's Ministry of State Security (an agency like a combination of the CIA and FBI).

What did they hack?

9 telecom firms (including AT&T and Verizon) and dozens of unversities worldwide between December 2024 and January 2025.

Why this matters?

The hackers can potentially access your texts, calls, and real-time communications through compromised telecommunications networks.

Take Aways:

1) Maintain your systems

The hack exploited unpatched systems; systems where security vulnerabilities had been identified and software fixes developed, but not deployed.

2) Use end to end encryption

Use communication tools which provide end to end encryption, like Signal and What's App.