By John Q. Hosedrinker 
Cybersecurity experts are cautioning the public about a recent breach of a US state’s National Guard network by the Salt Typhoon cyber espionage group. The DoD revealed the group maintained access for almost a year, potentially accessing sensitive military and law enforcement data, including administrator credentials and network diagrams. This data theft included configuration files for critical national infrastructure organizations and state government agencies, raising concerns about potential follow-on attacks. The incident, part of a larger campaign linked to Chinese-backed hackers, highlights the group’s proficiency and the urgent need for improved cybersecurity measures, including Zero Trust adoption and breach containment strategies across all US government networks.
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All US forces must now assume their networks are compromised, a chilling pronouncement that has sent ripples of concern throughout the digital and physical ranks of the US military. It’s a stark reality check, a recognition that the digital battlefield is a warzone, and our defenses are – or were – porous. The “Salt Typhoon” breach, as the incident is dubbed, has revealed the extent of the compromise, with the National Guard network bearing the brunt of the attack. The period of this exposure stretched from March to December 2024, a concerning timeframe.
The ramifications of this “Salt Typhoon” breach are, frankly, unsettling. This is a problem that transcends any single administration. It’s a decades-long pattern of neglect, of treating network security as an afterthought, something to be patched up after the fact rather than a core element of operational readiness. It’s a problem with deep roots, stretching back into the past, and it demands immediate and comprehensive action. This incident wasn’t a sudden event but a sustained campaign, an infiltration that allowed extensive access to sensitive data.
The discussions swirling around this event are a tangled mix of blame and counter-blame. The timing of this breach doesn’t fall neatly into one political administration, and any attempt to reduce this to partisan politics is, at best, a distraction. To look at the timeline, the breach occurred through the end of the Biden administration. Regardless of who’s in charge, the issue is the state of the networks themselves and how they are being protected.
One of the more disturbing elements revealed is the widespread access. It seems that once inside, the attackers were able to move laterally, gathering data and potentially compromising other defense networks. A simple password leak could open the doors to everything, and the report suggested that caches of plaintext passwords were obtained.
The issue here isn’t just a lack of investment in security; it’s also a failure in oversight and the procurement process. Small, independent vendors, often lacking the resources or expertise, are tasked with creating critical applications. These applications may not stand up to the rigors of peacetime, let alone the demands of war. And that is what worries everyone.
The reaction to the news has been what you would expect, with a fair amount of exasperation. This goes beyond technical failures; it’s about a lack of prioritization of national security. The “Salt Typhoon” breach isn’t just a blip on the radar; it’s a full-blown alert, forcing a shift in how the US military operates.
It’s time for a deep dive into what caused this and to make sure it doesn’t happen again. The focus needs to be on shoring up the digital infrastructure, upgrading defenses, and re-evaluating how security is approached at every level. The need for better security practices, more resources, and more rigorous oversight. The question is, will they be implemented?