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We analyzed the VenusTech and Salt Typhoon data leaks to uncover the latest trends in the Chinese criminal underground.
In late May, two particularly interesting Chinese datasets appeared for sale in posts on DarkForums, an English-language data breach and leak forum that has become popular since BreachForums went dark in mid-April. These two posts, which we’re calling the VenusTech Data Leak and the Salt Typhoon Data Leak, had some interesting similarities. Both posts:
Were posted by new accounts that appear to have been created explicitly to sell a single dataset
Included data that allegedly came from companies in China’s large hack-for-hire ecosystem
Included data samples that, while limited, give us some insight into the companies they came from
While the samples provided on DarkForums were relatively small in comparison to previous data leaks of a similar nature (including Chinese IT contractor leaks, such as TopSec and iSoon), the latest leaks provide critical pivot points for assessing the state and structure of the Chinese cybersecurity contractor ecosystem.
We wanted to take a moment to analyze these two recent posts, dive into the sample data, and make some connections between this activity and some overall trends we are observing in our research into the Chinese cybercriminal underground.
Analysis of the VenusTech Data Leak
VenusTech is a major IT security vendor in China with a focus on serving government clients. It was founded in 1996 and is traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. They have previously documented ties to the hack-for-hire industry including procuring services from XFocus, who created the original Blaster worm in 2003, as well as providing startup funding to Integrity Tech, the company responsible for the offensive hacking activity associated with Flax Typhoon.
On May 17, a post relating to VenusTech was created by an account called “IronTooth” and titled “Chinese tech company venus leaked documents.” The IronTooth account appears to have been newly created and simply uses the default profile image for DarkForums. The full post text reads:
selling sourced leaked documents dump of chinese tech company. includes papers, products sold to government, accesses, clients and more random shit sold to highest bidder after 48h. crossposted.
nextgov.com - July 9, 2025 09:30 AM ET
Rogers is Canada’s top wireless provider and is among that nation’s core telecom firms mandated to comply with Canadian lawful access rules, which require them to share user data with investigators.
Canadian telecom and mass media provider Rogers Communications was identified as a firm ensnared by a major Chinese hacking group that has targeted dozens of communications firms worldwide, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The group, known as Salt Typhoon, was discovered inside a batch of American telecom operators last year and first brought to light by the Wall Street Journal in late September. The campaign likely began around two to three years ago and has expanded rapidly since.
It’s not immediately clear what data, assets or other information were pilfered from Rogers networks. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the matter is sensitive.
“These allegations are false. We were not compromised by Salt Typhoon and this has been verified by two independent cyber security firms. As part of ongoing work, we partner with government and industry to proactively monitor and investigate potential threats,” a company spokesperson said.
"It’s important to note that if the Cyber Centre is aware of cyber threat activity in Canada, we alert the organization and provide mitigation support, advice and guidance," a spokesperson for the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said, noting that they do not comment on specific or alleged cyber incidents but pointing to advisories they have issued about the threat posed by Salt Typhoon.
"Through the Canadian Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (CSTAC), the Cyber Centre and its government partners regularly and actively engage with Canadian telecommunications service providers and key equipment suppliers to help ensure the security of Canadian critical telecommunications infrastructure," they said.
Rogers is the country’s top wireless provider and boasts some 20 million subscribers across its various services, a company webpage says. Over 60% percent of Canadian households rely on its internet, it notes. It also has extensive contracts with Canada’s government.
Canada, like many countries with robust telecom networks, has laws that let federal investigators compel providers to turn over communications metadata on individuals suspected of criminal activity, hacking or espionage. Rogers is among those required to comply with these Canadian “lawful access” inquiries.
In 2023, the company disclosed data on some 162,000 customers to authorities under lawful access requests backed by warrants and government orders, a transparency report shows.
Salt Typhoon has gone after those same wiretap environments in the U.S., and likely abused those platforms when it directly targeted the communications of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance during their run for the White House last year.
Last month, Canada’s cybersecurity agency released a bulletin warning that Salt Typhoon was targeting telecommunications firms in the country. “Three network devices registered to a Canadian telecommunications company were compromised by likely Salt Typhoon actors in mid-February 2025,” says the bulletin, which doesn’t name the firm.
The agency identified a 2023 vulnerability in Cisco routers that was used as an access point into the unnamed Canadian provider. Cisco equipment that has not been patched with the latest security updates has provided the Chinese telecom hackers with a wide access point into various communications systems, according to earlier assessments.
That same 2023 vulnerability is detailed in a Cisco threat intelligence blog released in February.
Cisco Talos has been closely monitoring reports of widespread intrusion activity against several major U.S. telecommunications companies, by a threat actor dubbed Salt Typhoon. This blog highlights our observations on this campaign and identifies recommendations for detection and prevention.
Between December 2024 and January 2025, Recorded Future’s Insikt Group identified a campaign exploiting unpatched internet-facing Cisco network devices primarily associated with global telecommunications providers. Victim organizations included a United States-based affiliate of a United Kingdom-based telecommunications provider and a South African telecommunications provider. Insikt Group attributes this activity to the Chinese state-sponsored threat activity group tracked by Insikt Group as RedMike, which aligns with the Microsoft-named group Salt Typhoon. Using Recorded Future® Network Intelligence, Insikt Group observed RedMike target and exploit unpatched Cisco network devices vulnerable to CVE-2023-20198, a privilege escalation vulnerability found in the web user interface (UI) feature in Cisco IOS XE software, for initial access before exploiting an associated privilege escalation vulnerability, CVE-2023-20273, to gain root privileges. RedMike reconfigures the device, adding a generic routing encapsulation (GRE) tunnel for persistent access.
Salt Typhoon, a state-sponsored actor linked to the People’s Republic of China, has breached at least nine U.S.-based telecommunications companies with the intent to target high profile government and political figures. Tenable Research examines the tactics, techniques and procedures of this threat actor.
More U.S. companies have been added to the list of telecommunications firms hacked in a wave of breaches by a Chinese state-backed threat group tracked as Salt Typhoon.
The White House said Friday the Salt Typhoon breach occurred in large part due to failures at telecom companies to protect their systems.
Senators briefed on the wide-ranging breaches by Chinese hackers called for action on Wednesday to protect the country's telecommunications networks.
Leaders of the big telecommunications companies were summoned to the White House to discuss strategies for overhauling the security of the nation’s telecommunications networks amid growing alarm at the scope of a Chinese hack.
T-Mobile confirms it was hacked in the wave of recently reported telecom breaches conducted by Chinese threat actors to gain access to private communications, call records, and law enforcement information requests.
China-linked threat actors compromised some U.S. internet service providers as part of a cyber espionage campaign code-named Salt Typhoon.
The state-sponsored hackers aimed at gathering intelligence from the targets or carrying out disruptive cyberattacks.
The Wall Street Journal reported that experts are investigating into the security breached to determine if the attackers gained access to Cisco Systems routers, which are core network components of the ISP infrastructures.
