95
Sophistication
2021
First Seen
89
Notoriety
98
Stealth
97
Immersive Rating
94
Impact
83
Tactics Variety

Salt Typhoon

Chinese state-linked actor (also tracked as Earth Estries, GhostEmperor, FamousSparrow) specializing in telecommunications and critical infrastructure espionage. Responsible for the 2024 compromise of major US telecom providers, including access to lawful intercept systems used by law enforcement.

Key behaviours to watch:

  • Exploitation of edge devices (Cisco routers, Ivanti VPN, Fortinet) for initial access to carrier networks.
  • Long-term persistence using GRE/IPsec tunnels, modified SSH keys, and living-off-the-land techniques on network infrastructure.
  • Targeting of CALEA wiretap systems, call metadata, and communications of government officials.

Anonymous
40
2003
95
30
55
60
70
APT1
85
2004
80
45
72
88
70
APT10
92
2006
78
90
90
94
88
APT32
88
2014
70
79
83
87
83
APT34
84
2014
68
74
88
82
86
APT35
73
2014
65
65
81
74
80
Chimera
68
2019
55
63
69
72
61
Cozy Bear
70
2012
57
71
64
64
58