US National Guard unit was 'extensively' hacked by Salt Typhoon in 2024, memo says
WASHINGTON - A U.S. state's Army National Guard network was thoroughly hacked by a Chinese cyberespionage group nicknamed "Salt Typhoon," according to a Department of Homeland Security memo.
The memo obtained by Property of the People, a national security transparency nonprofit, said the hackers "extensively compromised" the unnamed state Army National Guard's network between March and December 2024 and exfiltrated maps and "data traffic" with counterparts' networks in "every other US state and at least four US territories."
The National Guard and the Department of Homeland Security's cyber defense arm, CISA, did not immediately return messages. News of the memo was first reported by NBC News.
Salt Typhoon has emerged as one of the top concerns of American cyber defhen Coatesenders. U.S. officials allege that the hacking group is doing more than just gathering intelligence; it is prepositioning itself to paralyze U.S. critical infrastructure in case of a conflict with China. Beijing has repeatedly denied being behind the intrusions.
The memo, which said it drew on reporting from the Pentagon, said that Salt Typhoon's success in compromising states' Army National Guard networks nationwide "could undermine local cybersecurity efforts to protect critical infrastructure," in part because such units are often "integrated with state fusion centers responsible for sharing threat information—including cyber threats." REUTERS
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
US, China confront each other on Ukraine at United Nations
Find out what's new on ST website and app. FILE PHOTO: U.S. and Chinese flags are seen in this illustration created on March 20, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo UNITED NATIONS - The United States told China at the United Nations on Friday it should "stop fueling Russia's aggression" in Ukraine, as China accused Washington of trying to shift blame and spark confrontation. Acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea urged all countries, specifically naming China, to stop exports to Russia of dual-use goods that Washington says contribute to Russia's war industrial base and enable its drone and missile attacks on Ukraine. 'Beijing's claim to have implemented strong export controls on dual-use goods falls apart in the face of daily recovery of Chinese-produced components in the drones, weapons, and vehicles that Russia uses against Ukraine,' Shea told a meeting of the 15-member U.N. Security Council on Ukraine. China did not start the war in Ukraine, is not a party to the conflict, has never provided lethal weapons, and has always 'strictly controlled dual-use materials, including the export of drones,' China's deputy U.N. Ambassador Geng Shuang responded. 'We urge the U.S. to stop shifting blame on the Ukraine issue or creating confrontation and instead play a more constructive role in promoting ceasefire and peace talks,' he told the council. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Chinese-made engines are being covertly shipped via front companies to a state-owned drone manufacturer in Russia, labeled as "industrial refrigeration units" to avoid detection in the wake of Western sanctions. "If China is sincere in calling for peace, it should stop fueling Russia's aggression," Shea said. REUTERS Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Singapore S'pore could have nuclear energy 'within a few years', if it decides on it: UN nuclear watchdog chief Life 'Do you kill children?': Even before independence, S'pore has always loved its over-the-top campaigns Singapore Lung damage, poor brain development, addiction: What vaping does to the body Singapore Tipsy Collective sues former directors, HR head; alleges $14m lost from misconduct, poor decisions Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
US diplomats asked if non-whites qualify for Trump refugee program for South Africans
FILE PHOTO: The first group of white South African refugees step from a \"people mover\" upon arrival at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, U.S., May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo WASHINGTON - In early July, the top official at the U.S. embassy in South Africa reached out to Washington asking for clarification on a contentious U.S. policy: could non-whites apply for a refugee program geared toward white South Africans if they met other requirements? President Donald Trump's February executive order establishing the program specified that it was for "Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination," referring to an ethnic group descended mostly from Dutch settlers. In a diplomatic cable sent July 8, embassy Charge d'Affairs David Greene asked whether the embassy could process claims from other minority groups claiming race-based discrimination such as "coloured" South Africans who speak Afrikaans. In South Africa the term coloured refers to mixed-raced people, a classification created by the apartheid regime still in use today. The answer came back days later in an email from Spencer Chretien, the highest-ranking official in the State Department's refugee and migration bureau, saying the program is intended for white people. Reuters was unable to independently verify the precise language in the email which was described to the news agency by three sources familiar with its contents. The State Department, responding to a request for comment on July 18, did not specifically comment on the email or the cable but described the scope of the policy as wider than the guidance in Chretien's email. The department said U.S. policy is to consider both Afrikaners and other racial minorities for resettlement, echoing guidance posted on its website in May saying that applicants "must be of Afrikaner ethnicity or be a member of a racial minority in South Africa." Chretien declined to comment through a State Department spokesperson. Greene did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. The internal back-and-forth between the embassy and the State Department - which hasn't been previously reported - illustrates the confusion in how to implement a policy designed to help white Afrikaners in a racially diverse country that includes mixed-race people who speak Afrikaans, as well as whites who speak English. So far the State Department has resettled 88 South Africans under the program, including the initial group of 59 who arrived in May. Another 15 are expected to arrive by the end of August, one of the sources said. Trump, a Republican who recaptured the White House pledging a wide-ranging immigration crackdown, placed an indefinite freeze on refugee admissions from around the world after taking office, saying the U.S. would only admit refugees who "can fully and appropriately assimilate." Weeks later, he issued an executive order that called for the U.S. to resettle Afrikaners, describing them as victims of "violence against racially disfavored landowners," allegations that echoed far-right claims but which have been contested by South Africa's government. Since the executive order, U.S. diplomats working to implement the program have been deliberating internally about which racial groups could be considered eligible, one of the sources said. In the July 8 cable, Greene laid out a summary of the different ethnic and racial groups in the country before seeking guidance on eligibility. In addition to Afrikaners and mixed-race South Africans, Greene mentioned indigenous South Africans known as the Khoisan people. He said that members of the Jewish community had also expressed interest, but that in South Africa they are considered a religious minority and not a racial group. "In the absence of other guidance, [the U.S. embassy] intends to give consideration to well-founded claims of persecution based on race for other racial minorities," Greene wrote. At least one family identified as coloured has already traveled to the U.S. as refugees, two people familiar with the matter said. The cable forced the administration to clarify its position on whether the policy is for whites only, and if it does include other aggrieved minorities, who would qualify, two of the people familiar with the matter said. Chretien, a conservative who wrote op-eds promoting the Heritage Foundation's "Project 2025" plan to overhaul the federal government, is the senior official at the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. During the apartheid era, which ended with the first democratic elections in 1994, South Africa maintained a racially segregated society with separate schools, neighborhoods and public facilities for people classified as Black, coloured, white or Asian. Blacks make up 81% of South Africa's population, according to 2022 census data. Coloured South Africans make up 8%, and Indians 3%. Afrikaners and other white South Africans constitute 7% of the population but own three-quarters of the privately held land in the country. When asked about the program in May, Trump said he was not giving Afrikaners preferential treatment because they are white. "They happen to be white, but whether they are white or Black makes no difference to me," he said. In response to a request for comment, a White House official said the administration's policy reflected Trump's executive order. 'We will prioritize refugee admissions for South African citizens, including Afrikaners and other racial minorities in South Africa, who have been targeted by the discriminatory laws of the South African government," the official said. The assertion that minority white South Africans face discrimination from the Black majority has spread in far-right circles for years and been echoed by white South African-born Elon Musk, a U.S. citizen who served as a top White House aide during the first four months of Trump's administration. The South African government has rejected the allegations of persecution and a "white genocide." There is no evidence to back up claims of widespread, race-based attacks in the country. During a combative Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in May, Trump showed a printed image of a Reuters video taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of what he falsely presented as evidence of mass killings of white South Africans. The South African Chamber of Commerce said earlier this year that 67,000 people were interested in the program. REUTERS
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
International Planned Parenthood condemns plan to burn US-funded contraceptives
FILE PHOTO: A view of a warehouse of Kuehne+Nagel, which houses U.S.-funded contraceptives worth nearly $10 million, after the U.S. State Department confirmed that the stocks would be sent to France to be destroyed, in Geel, Belgium July 24, 2025. REUTERS/Marta Fiorin/File Photo BRUSSELS - The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) on Friday condemned a plan to incinerate U.S.-funded contraceptives worth nearly $10 million in France, a move reported by Reuters earlier this week. The supplies, including contraceptive implants and pills, have been sitting for months in a warehouse in Geel, a city in Belgium's Antwerp province, after President Donald Trump froze U.S. foreign aid in January. They are now being sent to France for destruction. IPPF called on the French, Belgian and U.S. governments to find a way to save the contraceptives, and on the French company that would be responsible for the destruction "to reconsider its role". "This is an intentional act of reproductive coercion," it said in a statement. Washington has previously said it did not want any USAID-branded supplies, like the ones in Belgium, to be rerouted elsewhere. A source with knowledge of the issue told Reuters that the Trump administration was acting in accordance with the Mexico City policy, an anti-abortion pact in which Trump reinstated U.S. participation in January. The State Department also told Reuters that related concerns about the end-destination of the contraceptives were factors in the decision. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Singapore S'pore could have nuclear energy 'within a few years', if it decides on it: UN nuclear watchdog chief Life 'Do you kill children?': Even before independence, S'pore has always loved its over-the-top campaigns Singapore Lung damage, poor brain development, addiction: What vaping does to the body Singapore Career setbacks among challenges raised by those seeking fertility help in S'pore: Survey Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly The IPPF said it had offered to collect the products, transport and repack them and to distribute the products onwards to women in need across the globe - "all at no cost to the US government" - but that the offer was rejected by the U.S. government. REUTERS
