11/22/2024

Top Senator Calls Salt Typhoon ‘Worst Telecom Hack in our Nation’s History’

Its severity highlights the need for more telecommunications regulation

The Chinese government espionage campaign that has deeply penetrated more than a dozen U.S. telecommunications companies is the "worst telecom hack in our nation’s history — by far," a senior U.S. senator told The Washington Post in an interview this week.

The hackers, part of a group dubbed Salt Typhoon, have been able to listen in on audio calls in real time and have in some cases moved from one telecom network to another, exploiting relationships of “trust,” said Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a former telecom venture capitalist. Warner added that intruders are still in the networks.

Though fewer than 150 victims have been identified and notified by the FBI — most of them in the D.C. region, the records of people those individuals have called or sent text messages to run into the "millions," he said, "and that number could go up dramatically."

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.