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.

Dark Caracal
68
2020
54
57
65
71
52
DarkSide
92
2007
90
86
88
87
84
Dark Storm
80
2020
75
76
78
85
70
Fancy Bear
71
2017
63
64
68
65
65
FIN7
85
2021
81
75
89
91
80
Fox Kitten
53
2022
47
49
59
61
61
HAFNIUM
70
2022
69
62
73
76
60
Indian Cyber Force
80
2013
73
72
72
85
75