US Holds Closed Briefing On Salt Typhoon Hacking By China

JAKARTA US government agencies gave a closed briefing to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, December 10 regarding alleged hacking attempts by China known as "Salt Typhoon." The operation allegedly targeted US telecommunications companies to steal American call data, local officials said on Monday, December 9.

The FBI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Jessica Rosenworcel, National Security Council, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency will attend a briefing at 14:15 local time for all members of the DPR. Last week, similar briefings were also held behind closed doors for senators.

The White House last week revealed that at least eight telecommunications companies and telecommunications infrastructure in the US had been victims of this hack, with a large number of American metadata stolen in a large-scale cyber espionage campaign. However, the White House has not provided further comment.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, after last week's briefing, said he was drafting a bill on the matter. Senator Bob Casey expressed deep concern over the breach, but estimated that Congress might only be able to resolve this issue next year.

Separately, the Senate Trade Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Wednesday to discuss Salt Typhoon, a security threat to the communication network, as well as the best practice to ward it off. This session will be attended by Competitive Carriers Association CEO, Tim Donovan.

Chinese officials have previously denied these allegations, calling them disinformation. They asserted that Beijing "firmly opposes and combats cyber theft and attacks of any kind."

Concerns continue to rise over China's scale and coverage of hacking of US telecommunications networks, as well as questions about when companies and governments can ensure security for Americans.

"The scale and depth of China's hacking is astonishing the fact that we let this happen so massively in the past year is terrible," said Senator Richard Blumenthal.

US officials previously accused hackers of targeting Verizon, AT&T, Lumen, and others, of stealing phone call audio recordings and large amounts of call records.