US company with access to biggest telecom firms uncovers breach by nation-state hackers

According to Reuters, a US company with access to the biggest telecom firms, Ribbon Communications, said hackers working for an unnamed nation-state breached its networks and remained within the company for nearly a year without detection.

Ribbon Communications, a Texas-based provider of technology to facilitate voice and data communications between separate tech platforms and environments, disclosed in its 23 October 10-Q filing that the company learned early last month that people reportedly associated with a nation-state actor gained access to its IT network, with initial access dating to early December 2024. The breach had not been previously reported.

The company’s statement confirms the intruders’ presence across Ribbon’s systems for an extended period, suggesting a lengthy late-2024 access window. The Reuters report notes the incident was disclosed in the filing and that the breach was linked to a nation-state actor, though the actors themselves were unnamed in the filing.