Chinese hackers breached major telecommunications companies worldwide by exploiting publicly known software flaws in routers.
Chinese hackers breached major telecommunications companies worldwide by exploiting publicly known software flaws in routers.
"[T]hese devices are often overlooked by cyber defenders, who struggle to maintain and keep pace with routine software patching of Internet-facing services and endpoint devices," says the advisory from the FBI, the National Security Agency (NSA) and US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The agencies' statement did not identify the victims of the hacking; the advisory was aimed at defensive measures to help organisations running the devices made by Cisco, Fortinet, and other vendors shore up their networks.
The notice states that devices manufactured by companies including Cisco, Citrix and Netgear are among the most vulnerable.
The Chinese government frequently denies hacking allegations.
It's the latest in a series of public warnings from US cybersecurity officials to blunt the impact of foreign operatives' efforts to infiltrate critical computer networks and harvest data for spying or other purposes. In most cases, the attackers use vulnerabilities in software that are already known, meaning a patch is available, rather than a hacking exploit that hasn't been discovered.
China "conducts more cyber intrusions than all other nations combined," alleges FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.
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