Singtel declines to confirm whether Chinese hacker group was involved in June malware attack

SINGAPORE: Responding to allegations made in a Bloomberg report, Singtel has confirmed the detection and removal of malware from its systems but refrained from acknowledging any ties to Chinese hackers.

The Bloomberg report, citing anonymous sources, claimed that the malware attack on Singtel was linked to a group identified as “Volt Typhoon,” which has been implicated in cyber operations against Western targets.

Bloomberg’s exclusive claimed that the hacking incident, which occurred in June, had been previously undisclosed. It added that investigators from various countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, have expressed concerns that Volt Typhoon has been exploiting compromised IT networks as part of a broader strategy by China to conduct cyber warfare, particularly in the event of military tensions with Western nations.

This report suggests that the attack on Singtel could represent a preliminary effort by Chinese actors to penetrate U.S. telecommunications infrastructure.

In a statement to Channel 8, a Singtel representative acknowledged that Singtel, like other large organizations around the world, has been repeatedly targeted by hackers. They confirmed that the company had successfully identified the malware in June and had taken appropriate measures to neutralize it while notifying the relevant authorities.

Singtel emphasized that no customer data had been compromised during the incident, and operations were not disrupted. However, the company maintained that it could not verify whether the threat actor was the same as the one described in the Bloomberg article, stating, “We do not comment on speculation.”

The spokesperson also highlighted the importance of network resilience in their operations.

“Singtel adopts industry best practices and collaborates with leading security partners to continuously monitor and address the myriad of threats we face daily. We also regularly review and enhance our cybersecurity capabilities to safeguard our critical assets from evolving threats,” the spokesperson added.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, meanwhile told Reuters, “China firmly opposes and combats cyber attacks and cyber theft in all forms.”