In a sobering reminder of today’s evolving cyber threat landscape, Salt Typhoon, a Chinese state-sponsored threat group, successfully infiltrated a U.S. Army National Guard network—undetected—for nine months in 2024. The attackers quietly exfiltrated network configuration files, administrator credentials, and sensitive personal data of service members, potentially enabling follow-on attacks across multiple state and federal agencies.
While the breach was eventually uncovered, the damage was done. The attackers’ access to configuration files and network topologies granted them a blueprint for compromising other government networks—a tactic they’ve used repeatedly in past operations targeting critical infrastructure, telecom providers, and state government agencies.
At Blackswan Cybersecurity, this breach underscores a reality we see every day: visibility without vigilance is a false sense of security.
What Happened: A Breach Built on Persistence and Old Vulnerabilities
Salt Typhoon is known for exploiting unpatched devices and legacy vulnerabilities—most notably:
-
CVE-2018-0171, a Smart Install flaw in Cisco IOS/IOS XE
-
CVE-2023-20198 and CVE-2023-20273, web UI and privilege escalation flaws in Cisco IOS XE
-
CVE-2024-3400, a critical command injection flaw in Palo Alto Networks’ GlobalProtect
Once inside, the group allegedly used custom malware—JumblePath and GhostSpider—to maintain stealthy persistence and conduct surveillance operations across network boundaries.
Their prize? Over 1,400 configuration files from nearly 70 government and infrastructure entities across 12 sectors—each one a potential key to unlocking deeper network access elsewhere.
The Bigger Threat: Configuration Files as Weapons
Configuration files are often overlooked in traditional security models. Yet, as this breach shows, they contain:
-
Administrative credentials
-
VPN gateway settings
-
Firewall rules
-
Inter-agency trust paths
This data gives attackers a map—and the keys—to move laterally through interconnected networks. As government systems grow more complex and interconnected, the ability to understand and control this sprawl becomes critical.
How Blackswan Cybersecurity Can Help
At Blackswan, we understand that cybersecurity isn’t just about preventing entry—it’s about detecting intrusions early, limiting blast radius, and ensuring business continuity. Here’s how our approach could have changed this story:
🔍 24/7 Threat Monitoring via Our Cyber Fusion Center
Our always-on SOC, staffed by human analysts and AI-driven threat models, correlates activity across firewalls, endpoints, and network logs. We flag anomalous behavior before it escalates—ensuring no threat lingers unnoticed for nine months.
🔐 Zero Trust Network Segmentation
Using our vCISO expertise and industry-aligned frameworks, we help agencies implement strict access controls, segmented networks, and “least privilege” design—so even if one node is breached, lateral movement is curtailed.
📊 Configuration File Monitoring & Integrity Checks
We deploy automated tools to monitor changes to sensitive configuration files. If any critical files are exfiltrated, altered, or accessed out-of-policy, we alert and respond in real time.
⚙️ Patch Management and Vulnerability Prioritization
We don’t just scan for CVEs—we help prioritize them based on exploitability in the wild and threat actor behavior. Salt Typhoon’s known vulnerabilities are actively tracked and patched through our managed vulnerability lifecycle services.
Don’t Wait for a Breach to Take Action
This breach of the National Guard was not the result of sophisticated zero-days—it was the result of known vulnerabilities, lack of segmentation, and insufficient monitoring.
If you’re responsible for cybersecurity in a government, military, or critical infrastructure environment, ask yourself:
-
Would we know if configuration files were exfiltrated today?
-
How long could an attacker linger in our network unnoticed?
-
Are we prioritizing the vulnerabilities attackers are actively exploiting?
Blackswan Cybersecurity helps organizations move from reactive to resilient. From full MDR/XDR coverage to compliance-aligned risk assessments, we partner with agencies to detect, defend, and deter persistent threats like Salt Typhoon.
BOOK YOUR CALL TODAY to schedule a no-cost cybersecurity posture review. Because in today’s world, hoping your network isn’t the next target isn’t a strategy—it’s a risk.
REFERENCES
- https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/chinese-hackers-breached-national-guard-to-steal-network-configurations/
- https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2025/07/salt-typhoon-hackers-compromise-a-states-army-national-guard-network/