Salt Typhoon

Threat Actor
92 incidents First seen 2026-03-26 Last seen 2026-10-29
Overview

Salt Typhoon is a People's Republic of China (PRC) state-backed actor that has been active since at least 2019 and responsible for numerous compromises of network infrastructure at major U.S. telecommunication and internet service providers (ISP). Salt Typhoon has targeted and leveraged public facing network edge devices to gain access to victim environments. Salt Typhoon has been publicly associated with activities resembling other security industry reported activity groups to include OPERATOR PANDA, RedMike, GhostEmperor, and UNC5807.

Threat ecosystem
Actors Malware Campaigns CVEs
Tap a node for a quick look · double-tap to open its profile
At a glance
peak priority 170 67 techniques 1 tools & malware in ATT&CK since 2025-02-24 updated 2026-09-23 · v2.0
Activity by month (incidents)
2025-042026-10
Sectors targeted
government · 45telecommunications · 42manufacturing · 13energy · 9defense · 8technology · 8finance · 7education · 4transportation · 4health · 3
Countries targeted
US · 56CA · 50CN · 47GB · 24AU · 16AT · 14CH · 14BE · 13RU · 13BG · 12FR · 12DE · 10
Origin
CN · 63US · 36CA · 33GB · 14AT · 7CH · 7
Kinds of incident
State-Sponsored & Espionage · 30Industry & Policy · 17Data Breach · 9Malware & Botnets · 9Cyberattack (general) · 8Exploited Vulnerability · 6
Techniques seen in incidents
Espionage · 49Ransomware · 19Lateral Movement · 14Phishing · 14Exfiltration · 10Reconnaissance · 10T1588.001 - Malware · 10T1584.004 - Server · 8T1588.006 - Vulnerabilities · 7Extortion · 6Privilege Escalation · 6Botnet · 5Data Breach · 5Impersonate · 5
Related malware
Cobalt Strike · 4ShadowPad · 3COATHANGER · 1Conti · 1Grandoreiro · 1HIUPAN · 1Lumma Stealer · 1NotPetya · 1
Related CVEs
CVE-2008-4128 · 1CVE-2018-0171 · 1CVE-2021-26855 · 1CVE-2021-26857 · 1CVE-2021-26858 · 1CVE-2021-27065 · 1CVE-2022-20775 · 1CVE-2022-41328 · 1CVE-2023-20198 · 1CVE-2023-20867 · 1
ATT&CK techniques by tactic (67)
reconnaissance T1590.004 Network Topology T1595 Active Scanning
resource development T1583.003 Virtual Private Server T1584.008 Network Devices T1585.001 Social Media Accounts T1587 Develop Capabilities T1587.001 Malware T1588.002 Tool T1588.005 Exploits
initial access T1078 Valid Accounts T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application T1199 Trusted Relationship
execution T1059.004 Unix Shell T1059.006 Python T1059.008 Network Device CLI T1059.013 Container CLI/API T1072 Software Deployment Tools T1569 System Services T1610 Deploy Container
persistence T1078 Valid Accounts T1098.004 SSH Authorized Keys T1136 Create Account T1136.001 Local Account T1543.005 Container Service T1556 Modify Authentication Process
privilege escalation T1078 Valid Accounts T1098.004 SSH Authorized Keys T1543.005 Container Service T1548.003 Sudo and Sudo Caching
credential access T1040 Network Sniffing T1110.001 Password Guessing T1110.002 Password Cracking T1552.001 Credentials In Files T1556 Modify Authentication Process
discovery T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery T1018 Remote System Discovery T1040 Network Sniffing T1046 Network Service Discovery T1082 System Information Discovery
lateral movement T1021.001 Remote Desktop Protocol T1021.004 SSH T1072 Software Deployment Tools
collection T1005 Data from Local System T1602.001 SNMP (MIB Dump) T1602.002 Network Device Configuration Dump
command and control T1071.001 Web Protocols T1071.002 File Transfer Protocols T1090 Proxy T1090.003 Multi-hop Proxy T1095 Non-Application Layer Protocol T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer T1132.001 Standard Encoding T1571 Non-Standard Port T1572 Protocol Tunneling
exfiltration T1020.001 Traffic Duplication T1048.003 Exfiltration Over Unencrypted Non-C2 Protocol
stealth T1027.010 Command Obfuscation T1070.003 Clear Command History T1070.007 Clear Network Connection History and Configurations T1070.009 Clear Persistence T1078 Valid Accounts
defense impairment T1556 Modify Authentication Process T1599 Network Boundary Bridging T1685 Disable or Modify Tools T1685.006 Clear Linux or Mac System Logs T1686 Disable or Modify System Firewall T1686.002 Network Device Firewall
Tools & malware it uses
JumbledPath
Incident timeline
2026-10-29
IR trends Q3 2026: Actors impersonate IT help desks in vishing attacks as ransomware activity increases
2026-10-19
MITRE ATT&CK v20 Catalogs AI Abuse, MFA Bypass, Water Utility Attacks
2026-09-30
National cyber director defends private-sector hacking program, urges focus on security basics
2026-09-28
AlienVault OTX AlienVault OTX AlienVault OTX Dark Reading
2026-09-24
Lawmakers introduce bill for voluntary telecom cyber rules after Salt Typhoon hacks
2026-09-24
Bipartisan Senate leaders introduce bill to bolster telecom cybersecurity in response to Salt Typhoon hacks
2026-09-17
China’s FamousSparrow hackers target Latin America with new backdoor
2026-09-17
China-Aligned FamousSparrow Deploys SparroWocky Backdoor Across Latin America
2026-09-01
China's 'Fire Ant' campaign used compromised Cisco routers as platform for more attacks
2026-08-31
China-Linked Fire Ant Hijacks Cisco Routers to Steal Credentials and Blind Security Logs
2026-08-20
ThreatsDay: Gogs 10.0 RCE, n8n Workflow-to-RCE, $10M Reward, GLM-5.3 AI Exploit and More
2026-08-06
ThreatsDay: Odysseus RCE, Samsung One-Click Takeover, iCloud Backdoor Fight + 27 More Stories
2026-08-05
Chinese telcos maintain deep US presence despite Salt Typhoon links, House committee says
2026-07-28
CISA shares advice on isolating vital systems during cyberattacks
2026-07-13
Weak Security Continues to Fuel Russian Cyberattacks
2026-06-26
FCC votes to toughen rules in bid to better protect undersea cables
2026-06-09
UK weakens proposed telecoms defenses against Chinese hackers after industry pushback
2026-06-04
Infosecurity Europe: Raise Security Concerns with Procurement Now, Because Quantum Can’t Wait
2026-06-04
Infosecurity Europe: Raise Security Concerns with Procurement Now, Because Quantum Can’t Wait
2026-05-21
Lawmakers from both parties say CISA cuts have gone too far
2026-05-14
FamousSparrow targets Azerbaijani energy sector in multi-wave espionage campaign
2026-05-13
China's 'FamousSparrow' APT Nests in South Caucasus Energy Firm
2026-05-13
Azerbaijani Energy Firm Hit by Repeated Microsoft Exchange Exploitation
2026-05-12
State-sponsored actors, better known as the friends you don’t want
2026-05-11
US: FCC Relaxes Foreign-Made Router Ban to Allow for Security Updates
2026-05-11
US: FCC Relaxes Foreign-Made Router Ban to Allow for Security Updates
2026-05-07
Has CISA Finally Found Its New Leader in Tom Parker?
2026-05-05
CISA wants critical infrastructure to operate ‘weeks to months’ in isolation during conflict
2026-05-05
Australia launches cyber review board modeled on version disbanded in US
2026-05-04
Small Defense Firms Lack Network Data to Stop Nation-State Hackers, Analyst Says
2026-05-04
Small Defense Firms Lack Network Data to Stop Nation-State Hackers, Analyst Says
2026-04-22
China’s cyber capabilities now equal to the US, warns Dutch intelligence
2026-04-22
UK Faces a Cyber ‘Perfect Storm’ Driven by Tech Advances and Nation State Threats, NCSC Warns
2026-04-22
UK Faces a Cyber ‘Perfect Storm’ Driven by Tech Advances and Nation State Threats, NCSC Warns
2026-04-15
El gobierno estadounidense no quiere routers fabricados fuera del país
2026-04-07
Human vs AI: Debates Shape RSAC 2026 Cybersecurity Trends
2026-03-27
We Are At War
2026-03-26
Is the FCC's Router Ban the Wrong Fix?