Report Warns US Allies are Using Chinese-Owned Mobile Routes

Dozens of mobile providers across 35 countries – including key U.S. allies – are routing sensitive telecom traffic through networks owned and controlled by China, security researchers warned Thursday.

Countries like Japan, South Korea and New Zealand were found routing mobile traffic through major Chinese interconnect providers such as China Mobile International, China Telecom Global and China Unicom Global, according to a report from iVerify, raising concerns about exposure to foreign surveillance. The report said Chinese-based firms can gain direct, unencrypted access to mobile signaling data when providing services to other countries, giving them “man-in-the-middle” visibility into authentication credentials, text messages, location pings and internet traffic for millions of users worldwide.

“These vulnerabilities are not just theoretical,” the researchers warned, adding that China’s state-owned telecom providers “have a perfect position” to conduct man-in-the-middle attacks “on a massive scale.” China operators can track device locations in real time, intercept SMS and voice communications and “silently push spyware or malware onto target devices using signaling-level attacks.”

The report, titled “Abusing Data in the Middle,” outlines past surveillance campaigns by foreign adversaries and cybercriminals that exploited vulnerabilities in U.S. carrier roaming agreements in part tied to Huawei equipment on foreign networks. Foreign telecom exploits let threat actors “routinely abuse mobile network vulnerabilities” to track device locations, hijack WhatsApp accounts, install spyware and launch targeted SMS phishing attacks, the report said.

The use of China’s interconnect infrastructure extends beyond close allies like New Zealand and South Korea. According to the report, the leading operators in countries across Southeast Asia – including Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines – all use China state-owned interconnect networks.

iVerify called for “a critical assessment of mobile interconnect security,” warning that international espionage firms now offer embedded telecom surveillance services – and that Chinese-owned mobile providers give Beijing the ability to conduct both passive and active surveillance operations.

“Unless addressed through policy intervention, the integration of these networks into global telecom infrastructure poses a direct threat to the privacy and security of billions of mobile users worldwide,” the report warned.

Chinese cyberthreat actors have intensified efforts to infiltrate U.S. telecommunications infrastructure, with one of the most prolonged and aggressive campaigns in recent history attributed to the group known as Salt Typhoon, which targeted networks of at least nine major U.S. providers. Salt Typhoon, which is linked to China’s Ministry of State Security, was likely deeply embedded in domestic telecom networks long before the campaign became public in the weeks before the 2024 presidential election, according to officials (see: CISA First Spotted Salt Typhoon Hackers in Federal Networks).