Defender Brief: Volt Typhoon

Defender Briefs are our quick summaries of important security, compliance, and regulatory topics relevant to the OT cybersecurity community, along with how Industrial Defender can support your response and readiness efforts.

Volt Typhoon is a state-sponsored threat actor linked to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), known for targeting U.S. critical infrastructure with long-term, stealthy cyber operations. The group avoids traditional malware and instead uses legitimate tools and valid credentials to quietly establish persistent access. Recent U.S. government advisories warn that Volt Typhoon may be positioning itself within IT environments to move laterally into OT systems and disrupt physical operations.

This Defender Brief outlines how organizations can detect and respond to the tactics used by Volt Typhoon, with a focus on operational technology (OT) environments. It provides an overview of the threat, a summary of CISA-recommended mitigation steps, and actionable guidance on how Industrial Defender supports identification and response efforts.

Key takeaways:

• Understanding of Volt Typhoon’s tactics, including LOTL methods and credential abuse
  
  
• CISA’s top recommended actions for reducing risk
  
  
• How to detect unauthorized changes, account misuse, and baseline deviations in OT systems
  
  
• Capabilities for log analysis, vulnerability management, and optional IDS deployment
  
  

Download the Defender Brief to assess your readiness and learn how to enhance OT visibility and response against persistent cyber threats.