U.S. telecommunications company Ribbon has disclosed that suspected government hackers had unauthorized access to its network for nearly a year before being discovered. The telecom provider revealed in a public filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that a ‘nation-state actor’ infiltrated its IT systems as early as December 2024. Ribbon, headquartered in Texas, offers phone, networking, and internet services to various sectors, including Fortune 500 companies and government entities like the Department of Defense.
While the breach impacted three of Ribbon’s customers, the company did not disclose the affected organizations due to confidentiality concerns. It remains unclear whether the hackers extracted personal data or sensitive information from these companies. However, Ribbon acknowledged that the threat actor accessed several customer files stored on external devices. The telecom firm promptly notified the affected customers about the security incident.
This breach underscores the persistent cybersecurity challenges faced by telecommunication providers, with Ribbon becoming the latest victim in a string of similar incidents over the past couple of years. Despite the breach, Ribbon has not attributed the cyber attack to any specific government entity. Chinese state-sponsored hackers, in particular, have previously targeted numerous U.S.-based companies, including telecom firms, to pilfer phone records and calling data related to high-ranking U.S. officials.
Source: TechCrunch