29 January 2025

Geopolitical Cyber Warfare

Rakkhi Joy

Introduction

The Ukraine war has shown that while the cyber battlefield has not eclipsed traditional kinetic warfare, it has an important role to play in espionage and potentially preparation of the battlefield for disruption. This post explores the rise of state-sponsored cyber threats in 2024, profiles key actors like China’s "Typhoon" groups, Russia-North Korea alliances and Iran in the OT world. Finally it outlines actionable strategies for building cyber resilience in this volatile landscape.

Silk Typhoon Beyond Trust vulnerability breach on US Treasury

The Silk Typhoon cyber attacks on the U.S. Treasury, leveraging vulnerabilities in BeyondTrust software, represent a significant breach linked to Chinese state-sponsored actors.

Attack Overview and Attribution

Who

The attacks were attributed to Silk Typhoon (also known as Hafnium or UNC5221), a Chinese state-backed Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group known for cyber espionage targeting sectors such as defense, healthcare, education, and government entities.

When

The breach began in early December 2024, with BeyondTrust detecting anomalous activity on December 2nd and confirming the compromise by December 5th. The Treasury was notified on December 8th.

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