Chile probes telecom cyberattacks

Investigation underway

Authorities in Chile are investigating possible cyberattacks against telecom companies including Entel, Movistar and Telmex after alerts issued from the United States about malicious activity and malware use. Coverage published in Chile places the case at an early stage, with no public confirmation from the companies involved that a successful intrusion occurred.

Preliminary attribution, still unconfirmed

In the Chilean press, the threat was linked by U.S. sources to the group Lilac Typhoon, described as connected to China. That attribution, however, appears as part of the alerts cited by media reports and not as an independent official confirmation from Chilean authorities. La Prensa Austral added that, in the complaint, Lilac Typhoon would also be identified as DEV-0234 and would operate as a network used by actors associated with China’s PLA as an obfuscation layer, although always framed as a reference to the complaint and not as a separate validation.

Legal and operational framework

24Horas reported that the case was classified as a criminal investigation for the alleged offense of computer sabotage. The probe was placed under the Metropolitan Central North Prosecutor’s Office, with work by the PDI’s Cybercrime Brigade to identify the IP addresses involved. That adds a more specific legal and operational frame than a general reference to possible cyberattacks.

Reactions and public scope

El Pingüino reported that members of the Chamber of Deputies’ Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications Committee described the case as of the utmost gravity and called for clarification of the possible cyberespionage against telecom infrastructure. The Rio Times, meanwhile, told an international audience that at the time of its coverage none of the affected companies had publicly confirmed a data breach or successful intrusion.

El Mostrador, in a later opinion column, said the complaint filed with the Centro Norte Prosecutor’s Office was described as secret and that the investigation could end in clarifications, nuances or even denials of what was initially reported. That coverage stressed the lack of detailed public technical information and the high level of uncertainty over the real extent of unauthorized access to the networks of Entel, Movistar and Telmex.

Infobae included the case in its regional coverage, saying Chilean justice is investigating alleged cyberattacks by Chinese hackers against telecom companies and that at least three firms would have experienced malicious activity. In the defense community, an X account specializing in the field, DefRevista, described the intelligence alert as a warning about cyberattacks inside the networks of Chile's main providers, linked to Chinese government-backed cyberespionage groups, but without adding any new verifiable technical details.