Reuters reported that a cybersecurity firm has claimed that a group of Chinese hackers exploited software bugs to infiltrate several internet companies in the United States and other countries, in a scenario that would be a nightmare for any internet giant.
Researchers at Lumen Technologies allege the hackers exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in Versa Director, a software platform used by Santa Clara, California-based Versa Networks to manage services for its customers.
Lumen Technologies announced the suspected hacking incident in a blog post, adding that four US companies and one non-US company had been identified.
Versa Network acknowledged the data vulnerability, acknowledging that its Versa Director had been exploited by a group of hackers in “at least one known instance.”
“A vulnerability was recently discovered in the Versa Director that may allow a user with Provider Data Center Administrator or Provider Data Center System Administrator privileges to upload potentially malicious files,” Versa Networks said in a bulletin.
Lumen added in a blog post that it assessed the hack was carried out by a sophisticated Chinese government-backed hacking group known as Bolt Typhoon.
Lumen also said it was “medium confident” in its assessment of the identification of the hacker group.
The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency added the Versa vulnerability incident to its list of “known exploited vulnerabilities,” but the Chinese Embassy in Washington and US officials denied details of the incident, news agencies reported. Reuters Reported.
While the Chinese government has always denied any involvement in cyber espionage, the US has taken a tough stance against companies with direct ties to Beijing that could pose a potential threat to national security. For example, TikTok is treading a dangerous path in the US.
