A senior White House source stated on Wednesday that the scope of the Chinese hacking campaign that has spied on American people’ calls and texts by breaking into telecom companies is far more than the public had previously realized.
During a news conference on Wednesday, Anne Neuberger, a deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology at the National Security Council, stated that at least eight American telecom companies had been compromised. Three of the companies—AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies—were named by U.S. officials to NBC News. The other five businesses’ names are unknown.
Another official on the call stated that hackers had accessed the phone data of many Americans, but not all of them, in an attempt to find those who might be potential targets for more intrusive spying. Neuberger claimed that dozens of countries worldwide had been impacted.
Hacking groups with advanced skills can be tenacious and hide in obscure areas of large computer networks. According to Neuberger, the United States does not think that any of the American telecom companies have completely evicted the hackers.
Until American businesses close the cybersecurity gaps, there is a chance that communications will continue to be compromised. She predicted that the Chinese will continue to have access.
When accused of hacking into Western targets with its extensive cyberespionage teams, China usually denies responsibility. “China firmly opposes the US’s smear attacks against China without any factual basis,” a spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington said in an email statement.
Although cybersecurity firms have long warned about China’s targeting of global telecommunications infrastructure, the United States considers this effort, which Microsoft has nicknamed Salt Typhoon, to have started in the last two years.
The United States and its major allies, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, issued a public guide on Tuesday to help telecom businesses defend against Chinese hackers.
Hackers have gained access to a variety of data as a result of the cyberespionage campaign, including countless call logs, particular phone conversations, and systems where telecom companies collaborate with law enforcement and intelligence organizations under court order to obtain target data.
An FBI officer stated during a press conference on Salt Typhoon on Tuesday that the hackers were mainly looking for call logs belonging to individuals in the Washington, D.C., area.
All Americans whose calls the FBI believes were compromised are currently being notified. The offices of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the presidential campaigns of Harris and Trump have both admitted to NBC News that they were penetrated.
However, the FBI official stated that the agency does not intend to tell every American whose call data were examined.
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