FBI: Chinese hackers breached 200 US firms, spread to 80 countries

Scale of breach
At least 200 U.S. companies and organisations in 80 countries have been compromised.

Previous victims
Telecom majors AT&T, Verizon, Lumen, Charter, and Windstream were among those earlier hacked.

Target and motive
Hackers mapped communications of senior U.S. officials and tracked surveillance conducted via legal orders.

Methods
Salt Typhoon hijacks company routers to siphon sensitive network traffic; FBI issued a joint advisory with allies on detection and defence.

Ongoing threat
FBI cyber chief Brett Leatherman warned the campaign is still active, underscoring Beijing’s growing cyber-espionage push.