In an alarming revelation, a senior White House official disclosed that a massive hacking campaign, attributed to a Chinese group known as Salt Typhoon, had breached numerous telecommunications systems across the United States.
The hacking campaign targeted at least eight major US telecommunications companies, including industry giants like AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies. According to US officials, the attack granted Beijing access to the private calls and messages of a “large number” of American citizens. While encrypted apps like Signal and WhatsApp are recommended to mitigate such risks, White House Cybersecurity Adviser Anne Neuberger clarified, “We do not believe it’s every cell phone in the country, but we believe it’s potentially a large number of individuals that the Chinese government was focused on.”
The hackers managed to penetrate three critical layers of telecommunications data, as revealed by FBI sources. First, they accessed call records detailing who communicated with whom and at what times, focusing on activity around Washington, DC.
Additionally, they intercepted live phone calls, gaining real-time access to the conversations of specific targets, though the exact number of individuals affected remains unclear. Lastly, the breach extended to the systems used by law enforcement and intelligence agencies to monitor and track communications, highlighting the depth of the intrusion.
The breach’s scope is so extensive that Jeff Greene, Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, expressed concerns over how long it might take to fully eradicate the threat. He called the situation “impossible to predict,” emphasizing its significance.
Adding to the gravity, the FBI confirmed that prominent figures, including former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, were among the targets informed of the breach. This revelation further underscores the sensitive nature of the information at risk.
Despite these findings, Chinese officials have vehemently denied any involvement. The Chinese embassy in Washington issued a strong rebuttal, with spokesperson Liu Pengyu accusing the US of engaging in its cyberattacks and stating, “The US needs to stop its cyberattacks against other countries and refrain from using cyber security to smear and slander China.”