A large-scale hacking initiative originating from China has affected numerous countries, according to a high-ranking official from the White House.
Conducted by a group known as Salt Typhoon, this incident represents one of the most extensive intelligence breaches in the history of the United States.
China infiltrated at least eight prominent US telecommunications firms, including AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies, allowing officials in Beijing access to the private messages and calls of a “significant number” of Americans, as reported by Washington.
In response, US authorities have advised American citizens to utilize encrypted messaging applications to reduce the likelihood of their communications being intercepted by China.
Nevertheless, senior White House official Anne Neuberger stated that they do not believe any sensitive communications have been impacted.
She further commented: “We are not under the impression that it affects every mobile phone in the nation, but we think a considerable number of people were the focus of the Chinese government’s surveillance.”
Jeff Greene, the executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, remarked that the extent of the breach is so vast that it is “impossible” for authorities to estimate when a complete resolution might occur.
An additional senior US official chose not to disclose particular information about the breach but indicated that China’s access to American telecommunications infrastructures is likely extensive, posing a risk of “ongoing compromise.”
The official noted that the White House has prioritized addressing the breach, and that President Joe Biden has received multiple briefings regarding the intrusions.
On Tuesday, the Chinese embassy in Washington denied the allegations of their involvement in the hacking incident.
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“The US needs to cease its own cyber operations against other nations and abstain from using cybersecurity as a means to defame China,” said embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu.
Advocates for privacy have consistently supported the adoption of end-to-end encrypted applications. Both Signal and WhatsApp automatically provide end-to-end encryption for calls and messages. Google Messages and iMessage also feature end-to-end encryption for texts and calls.
An FBI representative indicated that the hackers were able to access three categories of information.
The first type consisted of call logs indicating who was called and when, with a specific focus on records centered around Washington D.C.
The second category included live phone calls of designated targets, although the FBI refrained from revealing the number of alerts sent to those individuals.
However, both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’s presidential teams informed Sky’s US affiliate NBC News that the FBI had notified them of being targets.
The third set of information accessed involved the systems that enable law enforcement and intelligence bodies to monitor various communications.
