The Ongoing Cybersecurity Crisis in Telecoms

✨🔧🛡️ Telecommunications companies (telcos) form the backbone of global connectivity, yet their cybersecurity practices remain shockingly inadequate. The recent revelations about Salt Typhoon, a sophisticated threat actor group exposed by Cisco Talos, highlight just how vulnerable telcos are. The attackers leveraged weak password storage, poorly secured network device configurations, and intercepted authentication traffic to infiltrate multiple telecom networks. This isn’t just an isolated incident—it's a glaring red flag for the entire industry. ✨🔧🛡️

How Salt Typhoon Exploited Telco Negligence

⚡️🛡️🔒 Salt Typhoon didn’t use groundbreaking exploits or zero-day vulnerabilities. Instead, they relied on carelessness within telcos’ security postures: ⚡️🛡️🔒

Stolen Credentials & Weak Password Storage: The attackers used credentials that were poorly secured or stored in plaintext.
Exposed Network Devices: They extracted device configurations via TFTP/FTP, gaining access to sensitive information like SNMP strings and weakly encrypted passwords.
Guest Shell Abuse on Cisco Devices: Using a tool called JumbledPath, compiled as an ELF binary in x86-64 architecture, they modified network configurations and impaired logging.
Lateral Movement Across Telcos: Once inside, they moved through multiple telecom providers, leveraging compromised infrastructure as stepping stones to evade detection.
Erasing Their Tracks: They cleared logs (.bash_history, auth.log, lastlog, wtmp, btmp) and reset configurations to maintain stealth access.
Tampering with AAA Controls: They modified authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) settings, inserting supplemental addresses under their control to bypass access control systems.

The Real Culprit | TFTP, FTP, & SNMP Exposures

🔥🔧🔓 Telcos continue to expose themselves to catastrophic breaches by failing to address basic security risks—especially the use of insecure protocols like TFTP, FTP, and SNMP. 🔥🔧🔓

1. TFTP & FTP: A Hacker’s Playground

TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) are inherently insecure. They transmit data in plaintext, making it trivial for attackers to intercept sensitive information. Despite their well-known risks, many telcos still have TFTP and FTP open on public IPs, allowing threat actors to:

Steal device configurations and gain access to network secrets.
Extract SNMP strings, which can then be used to pull further device data.
Map out network topologies for further exploitation.

2. SNMP: The Silent Security Hole

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) was designed for network monitoring, but its default configurations are dangerously open. When exposed to the internet:

Attackers can query devices for sensitive network information.
Poorly configured SNMP strings allow remote changes to device settings.
Weak authentication enables full control over infrastructure, effectively handing over the keys to attackers.

How Telcos Must Fix This – No More Excuses

🔐🛡️🔧 The solution to these cybersecurity risks is not difficult. It requires basic security hygiene, which should have been standard practice years ago. Here’s what telcos must do immediately: 🔐🛡️🔧

1. Eliminate TFTP and FTP

Ban TFTP and FTP entirely for network device management.
Switch to secure alternatives like SCP (Secure Copy Protocol) or SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol).

2. Lock Down SNMP

Block SNMP access from public IPs—no exceptions.
Use SNMPv3 with proper encryption and authentication.
Rotate SNMP community strings and ensure they are complex.

3. Separate Management & Data Planes

Create a dedicated management plane that is not accessible from the general network.
Use strict access controls and authentication for all management interfaces.

4. Implement Centralized Logging and Anomaly Detection

Log all access attempts and monitor unusual activity.
Use behavioral analytics to detect lateral movement and unauthorized access.
Deploy real-time alerting when sensitive configurations are accessed.

Wrap | No More Complacency

🔥🔒🛡️ The Salt Typhoon incident serves as undeniable proof that telcos are failing at fundamental cybersecurity. The fact that attackers could move between different telecom providers using the same weakly protected credentials and configurations shows an industry-wide problem. Telcos must wake up and treat security as non-negotiable—or risk losing control of their own networks. 🔥🔒🛡️

Cybersecurity isn’t just about compliance checklists or fancy buzzwords—it’s about closing obvious security gaps before they are exploited. If Salt Typhoon could do it, rest assured others are already trying.

It’s time for telcos to stop being the weakest link.

Why Fusion’s SD-WAN is Immune to Salt Typhoon’s Attack Vectors 🚀🔐🛡️

While traditional telcos continue to expose themselves to security breaches by relying on outdated protocols and poor management practices, Fusion SD-WAN is built from the ground up with security as a core principle. Unlike legacy networking solutions that still depend on TFTP, FTP, and SNMP for device management, Fusion’s SD-WAN eliminates these risks through modern architecture and a secure-by-default approach.

1. No Legacy Protocols = No Exploitable Attack Surface ❌📡🕵️

Salt Typhoon thrived on weakly protected network devices that relied on insecure legacy protocols like TFTP, FTP, and SNMP. Fusion SD-WAN completely removes these vulnerabilities by:

Using encrypted management channels instead of plaintext file transfers.
Eliminating SNMP exposure by not depending on it for device configuration.
Employing secure API-based communication for control and orchestration.

2. A True Secure Management Plane by Default 🔒✅🌍

Most telcos fail at security because their management plane is mixed with general network traffic, leaving devices exposed. Fusion SD-WAN, however, operates on a completely isolated and secure management plane, ensuring that:

No device configurations are accessible over the public internet.
All management actions require authentication and encryption, preventing credential theft.
Zero-touch provisioning (ZTP) occurs over secure channels, unlike legacy telco methods that rely on weak authentication mechanisms.

3. Built-in Anomaly Detection & Proactive Security 🚨📊🧠

Fusion SD-WAN continuously monitors for anomalous behaviour across the entire SD-WAN fabric. This proactive security model ensures:

Real-time alerts for unauthorised changes, unlike traditional telco environments where logging is often disabled or erased by attackers.
Automatic quarantine of compromised devices, preventing lateral movement across networks.
Continuous encryption of all data flows, making credential theft via traffic capture ineffective.

Wrapping up | Secure by Design, Not as an Afterthought 🏆🛡️🔍

Fusion’s SD-WAN doesn't need retroactive security patches or damage control like traditional telcos—it was designed without the weaknesses that Salt Typhoon exploited. By removing insecure protocols, enforcing a secure management plane, and providing constant security monitoring, Fusion’s SD-WAN is inherently resistant to these kinds of attacks.

While legacy telcos scramble to clean up their security mess, Fusion’s SD-WAN customers can focus on what matters—running their business with confidence. 💡🔥👊

🧂The Achilles Heel of Telecom Security | Salt Typhoon as the Ultimate Case Study👨‍🍳