SilentAir hijacked Asian telecom gear to intercept SMS 2FA codes
Original title: SilentAir Hijacks Asian Telecom Networks to Intercept SMS 2FA Codes and Spy on Taiwanese Users
Enea says diversion attacks from at least six Asian countries intercepted some 2FA texts, mainly targeting people in Taiwan.
Enea identified SilentAir, a spying group that sent SS7 and Diameter signaling from hacked equipment inside Asian mobile operators into the IPX. UpdateLocation-style messages diverted calls and texts for selected people, and some two-factor codes were intercepted right after diversion. Interception was 18.3% of observed SilentAir attacks. Enea rates SilentAir a state-level actor with high confidence, links it to China only with low confidence, and says the activity is disrupted for now but could return.
Unconfirmed: China attribution is low confidence, and Enea does not confirm whether operators cleaned the equipment or any accounts were taken over.
- Sources were found in at least six Asian countries; operators were notified.
- Silent SMS, often spam-like English text, was sent at large scale, mainly to Taiwan.
- Activity followed a UTC+8 workday and paused around Chinese holidays.
- A link to Liminal Panda is possible but unconfirmed.
- Enea could not analyze malware it believes was used; countries and operators are unnamed.
Impact: Diverted calls and texts, including intercepted SMS 2FA codes
- Threat actors
- SilentAirLiminal Panda
- Organizations
- EneaInfocomm Media Development AuthorityCrowdStrike
From the original article
5 min read at thehackernews.com
A newly identified spying group used hacked equipment inside Asian mobile operators to intercept the calls and texts of selected people, mostly in Taiwan. Enea, a telecom and cybersecurity software company based in Stockholm, found the group's attack sources in at least six Asian countries and named it SilentAir this week. It assessed with high confidence that SilentAir is a state-level actor,
thehackernews.com
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