@Cybertan

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Man alleges to be victim of giga SIM card security oversight, giga denies claims A man has alleged that a security oversight by mobile service provider giga left him vulnerable to a costly SIM card security breach. Speaking to MS News on 1 Nov, Mr Lee claimed he had been a victim of a “SIM swap cyber attack” just 36 hours prior. He further elaborated on his experience in an email to various authorities, including the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Ministry of Digital Development & Information (MDDI). According to Mr Lee, the incident began on 30 Oct, when a hacker reportedly gained access to his login details. He alleged that, without secondary verification, the hacker was able to remotely install an eSIM, granting them access to his one-time passwords (OTPs) and two-factor authentication (2FA) codes. As a result, he claimed he suffered financial losses of more than S$13,000 due to unauthorised access to his accounts. The situation forced Mr Lee to freeze his SIM card, preventing him from using his digital wallet for purchases and commuting. giga, however, has denied any security oversight on its part in connection to the incident. Source: Wipada Wipawin on Canva Man claims security oversight enabled hacking incident In an email, Mr Lee raised concerns over security issues he believes contributed to the SIM swap incident involving his giga account. His claims include the lack of two-factor authentication (2FA) for account logins on giga’s platform and allowing eSIM installations without additional verification. He also noted that giga’s customer service was “unresponsive” on 30 Oct and 31 Oct, which fell over a public holiday.   Source: gigaexperience on Instagram When he eventually reached a representative on 1 Nov, he said he was advised to email giga and file a police report. According to Mr Lee, giga’s response was a generic reply confirming that an investigation had been opened, and he did not receive further updates. In the email chain reviewed by MS News, giga acknowledged receipt of Mr Lee’s complaint and issued a support ticket. giga refutes man’s claims, urges customers to safeguard digital accounts In response to MS News’ inquiries, a giga spokesperson stated that “there has been no breach of giga’s systems”, asserting that Mr Lee’s claims were unfounded. Source: gigaexperience on Instagram “Our team has assisted the customer in securing his accounts, and thorough reviews indicate that our security protocols were correctly followed,” the spokesperson said. Due to privacy regulations, giga was unable to disclose further details about the case. It further emphasised the shared responsibility of digital security, adding: “We emphasise that customers play an essential role in safeguarding their digital accounts.”

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(Bloomberg) – Singapore Telecommunications, Singapore’s largest mobile carrier, was breached by Chinese state-sponsored hackers this summer as part of a broader campaign against telecommunications companies and other critical infrastructure operators around the world, according to two people familiar with the matter. The previously undisclosed breach was discovered in June, and investigators believe it was pulled off by a hacking group known as Volt Typhoon, according to the two people, who asked not to be identified to discuss a confidential investigation. Officials in the US, Australia, Canada, the UK and New Zealand – the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing alliance – warned earlier this year that Volt Typhoon was embedding itself inside compromised IT networks to give China the ability to conduct disruptive cyberattacks in the event of a military conflict with the West.   The breach of Singtel, a carrier with operations throughout Southeast Asia and Australia, was seen as a test run by China for further hacks against US telecommunications companies, and information from the attack has provided clues about the expanding scope of suspected Chinese attacks against critical infrastructure abroad, including in the US, the people said. In an emailed response to queries from Bloomberg News, Singtel didn’t directly address questions about the alleged breach. “We understand the importance of network resilience, especially because we are a key infrastructure service provider,” the company said. “That’s why we adopt industry best practices and work with industry-leading security partners to continuously monitor and promptly address the threats that we face on a daily basis. We also regularly review and enhance our cybersecurity capabilities and defenses to protect our critical assets from evolving threats." A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, said he wasn’t aware of the specifics, as relayed by Bloomberg, but that in general, China firmly opposes and combats cyberattacks and cybertheft. The US is currently battling its own suspected Chinese attacks of political campaigns and telecommunications companies. Officials have described the telecom breaches as one of the most damaging campaigns on record by suspected Chinese hackers and one that they are still seeking to fully understand and contain. In the US telecommunications attacks, which investigators have attributed to another Chinese group called Salt Typhoon, AT&T and Verizon Communications are among those breached, and the hackers potentially accessed systems the federal government uses for court-authorised network wiretapping requests, the Wall Street Journal reported in early October. US intelligence officials think the Chinese hacking group that Microsoft dubbed Salt Typhoon may have been inside US telecommunications companies for months and found a route into an access point for legally authorised wiretapping, according to a person familiar with their views. AT&T declined to comment. Verizon didn’t respond to a request for comment. Through those intrusions, the hackers are believed to have targeted the phones of former President Donald Trump, running mate JD Vance and Trump family members, as well as members of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign staff and others, the New York Times has reported. In the case of the alleged Singtel breach, one of the people familiar with that incident said the attack relied on a tool known as a web shell. In August, researchers at Lumen Technologies said in a blog post they assessed with “moderate confidence” that Volt Typhoon had used such a web shell. A sample of the malware was first uploaded to VirusTotal, a popular site for security experts to research malicious code, on June 7 by an unidentified entity in Singapore, according to Lumen researchers. The web shell allowed hackers to intercept and gather credentials to gain access to a customer’s network disguised as a bona fide user, they said. The hackers then breached four US firms, including internet service providers, and another in India, according to Lumen researchers. General Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency, said in early October that the investigations into the latest telecommunications breaches were at an early stage. Later that month, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said they had identified specific malicious activity by actors affiliated with the Chinese government and immediately notified affected companies and “rendered technical assistance.” A spokesperson for the National Security Council last week referred to the “ongoing investigation and mitigation efforts,” but directed further questions to the FBI and CISA.   General Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency, during a Bloomberg Television interview in May. (Photographer: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg) Singtel uncovered the breach of its network after detecting suspicious data traffic in a core back-end router and finding what it believed was sophisticated, and possibly state-sponsored, malware on it, according to the other person familiar with the investigation. The malware was in “listening” mode and didn’t appear to have been activated for espionage or any other purpose, the person said, adding that it reinforced a suspicion that the attack was either a test run of a new hacking capability or that its purpose was to create a strategic access point for future attacks. There is evidence that Salt Typhoon reached the US at least as early as spring 2024, and possibly long before, and investigators tracking the group think it has infiltrated other telecommunications companies throughout Asia, including in Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, according to two people familiar with those efforts. The NSA has warned since 2022 that telecommunications infrastructure was vulnerable to Chinese hacking. Volt Typhoon has been active since at least mid-2020, having attacked sensitive networks in Guam and elsewhere in the US with a goal of burrowing into critical infrastructure and staying undetected for as long as possible. The hacks by both Chinese Typhoon groups have alarmed Western officials and raised concerns about the number and severity of backdoors – a way to get around security tools and gain high-level access to a computer system – that China has placed inside critical IT systems. Those entry points could be used to conduct espionage or prepare the battlespace for use in a potential military conflict with the West. Chinese hackers have long been accused of conducting espionage attacks against the US – including, most notably, the theft of security clearance applications for tens of millions of US government workers held by the Office of Personnel Management. But officials say the latest hacks go a step further and in some cases suggest China may be amassing capabilities to disrupt or degrade critical services in the US and abroad. Paul Nakasone, a retired general who led the NSA for nearly six years until February, told reporters in October that the latest telecommunications hacks by Salt Typhoon were distinguished by their scale, and that the two Chinese groups represent a tremendous challenge for the government. “I am not pleased in terms of where we’re at with either of the Typhoons,” he said.