UPDATE U.S. government agencies held a classified briefing for all senators on Wednesday concerning China’s alleged efforts known as Salt Typhoon to burrow deep into American telecommunications companies and steal data about U.S. calls. The FBI, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, the National Security Council, and the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) were among the participants in the closed-door briefing, officials told Reuters.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) told reporters after the briefing he’s working to draft legislation on this issue, while Bob Casey (D-PA) said he had “great concern” about the breach and added it may not be until next year before Congress can address the topic.
Rick Scott (R-FL) expressed frustration with the briefing. “They have not told us why they didn’t catch it; what they could have done to prevent it,” Scott said.
Separately, a Senate Commerce subcommittee will hold a December 11 hearing on Salt Typhoon and how “security threats pose risks to our communications networks, and review best practices.” One of the scheduled witnesses is Competitive Carriers Association CEO Tim Donovan. Inside Towers plans to cover the hearing.
There are growing questions about the size of the Chinese hacking into U.S. telecom networks and when companies and the government can assure Americans about the issue, Reuters reported.
Incoming FCC Chair Brendan Carr said he will work “with national security agencies through the transition and next year in an effort to root out the threat and secure our networks.”
The White House and national security officials pegged the number of U.S. telecoms whose networks were breached by Chinese hackers has grown to at least eight. “Right now, we do not believe any have fully removed the Chinese actors from these networks … so there is a risk of ongoing compromises to communications,” Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser, told reporters, according to CNN.
U.S. officials have previously alleged the hackers targeted Verizon (NYSE: VZ), AT&T, (NYSE: T) T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS), Lumen (NYSE: LUMN), and others stole telephone audio intercepts along with a large tranche of call record data, Inside Towers reported.
T-Mobile said it does not believe hackers got access to its customer information. Lumen said there is no evidence customer data was accessed on its network.
Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg, AT&T CEO John Stankey, Lumen CEO Kate Johnson and T-Mobile took part in a November 22 White House meeting on the issue.
Verizon said “several weeks ago, we became aware that a highly sophisticated, nation-state actor accessed several of the nation’s telecom company networks, including Verizon,” adding the incident was focused on a very small subset of individuals in government and politics.
AT&T said it is “working in close coordination with federal law enforcement, industry peers and cyber security experts to identify and remediate any impact on our networks.”
Chinese officials have previously described the allegations as disinformation and said Beijing “firmly opposes and combats cyber attacks and cyber theft in all forms.”
CISA told reporters it could not offer a timetable for ridding America’s telecom networks of all hackers.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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