FBI offers $10 million for information about Salt Typhoon hackers

The FBI is offering $10 million for information about the China-state hacking group tracked as Salt Typhoon and its intrusion last year into sensitive networks belonging to multiple US telecommunications companies.

Salt Typhoon is one of a half-dozen or more hacking groups that work on behalf of the People’s Republic of China. Intelligence agencies and private security companies have concluded the group has been behind a string of espionage attacks designed to collect vital information, in part for use in any military conflicts that may arise in the future, Caliber.Az reports, citing American news sources.

A broad and significant cyber campaign

On April 24, the FBI published a statement offering up to $10 million, relocation assistance, and other compensation for information about Salt Typhoon. The announcement specifically sought information about the specific members of Salt Typhoon and the group's compromise of multiple US telecommunications companies last year.

“Investigation into these actors and their activity revealed a broad and significant cyber campaign to leverage access into these networks to target victims on a global scale,” FBI officials wrote. “This activity resulted in the theft of call data logs, a limited number of private communications involving identified victims, and the copying of select information subject to court-ordered US law enforcement requests.”

Salt Typhoon is one of several names the government and private researchers use to track the group, which they say has been active since at least 2019. Other tracking names include RedMike, Ghost Emperor, FamousSparrow, Earth Estries, and UNC2286. Over the years, Salt Typhoon has been behind multiple compromises of telecommunications companies around the world, including many in the US. About a year ago, the group stepped up those activities.

By Khagan Isayev