The United States is dealing with what is being described as the worst telecommunications hack in the country's history, blamed on state-sponsored Chinese attackers, Salt Typhoon.
This ongoing cyberattack has deeply infiltrated the networks of major US telecom providers, including AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. The depth of the breach has made it exceptionally difficult to root out the attackers from the compromised systems.
”A catastrophic gap
Mark Warner, the Democratic chairman of the communication email list Senate Intelligence Committee, described the attack as “the largest telecommunications hack in American history, by far.”
Speaking to The Washington Post , Warner noted that this intrusion dwarfs previous cyberattacks such as those on Colonial Pipeline or SolarWinds. He noted that taking out the attackers would require replacing thousands, if not tens of thousands, of aging devices such as switches and routers — a huge logistical and financial challenge. That's why the Chinese attackers are still working hard to monitor communications.
The attack, attributed to groups known as “Salt Typhoon,” “GhostEmperor” and “FamousSparrow,” was initially detected over a month ago, but is believed to have begun over a year earlier. Its main goal appears to be intelligence gathering.
High risk targets
The attackers managed to intercept phone conversations in real time, including those of high-profile individuals such as Donald Trump, JD Vance, and members of current Vice President Kamala Harris’s staff . While there is no direct evidence linking the breach to the 2024 US presidential election, the implications are serious. Warner revealed that the FBI has so far identified fewer than 150 people as victims, but those individuals have been in contact with “millions,” suggesting the scale of the breach could grow dramatically.
