Chinese hackers infect carriers to steal SMS messages

Malware tied to Chinese hackers has been found infecting telecommunication networks to steal SMS messages from thousands of phone numbers.

The spying effort comes from a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group called APT 41, according to the cybersecurity firm FireEye. On Thursday, the company published a report on a malware strain from the group that's designed to infect Linux-based servers used by telecommunication carriers to route SMS messages.

Some time this year, FireEye uncovered the malicious computer code on a cluster of servers belonging to an unnamed telecommunication network provider. "During this intrusion, thousands of phone numbers were targeted, to include several high-ranking foreign individuals likely of interest to China," the company told PCMag. Read more...