Summary
A ninth U.S. telecom firm has been hacked in the Chinese espionage campaign “Salt Typhoon,” which gave Beijing access to private texts and calls of Americans, including senior government officials.
The Biden administration confirmed the breach after issuing guidance to detect Chinese hackers.
Officials call for mandatory cybersecurity regulations, as voluntary measures are deemed insufficient.
The FCC will address the issue next month, while further U.S. actions are expected.
China denies involvement.
So, do something about it?
The hackers are using backdoors intended for federal agencies to perform «wiretaps»/surveillance. There has been FBI agents that low key recommended «responsible use of encryption».
Yep, this guy may have had a hand in the hackers acquiring the backdoors
The takeaway is that there is no way to make a weakness that only the “good guys” has access to. The weakness is there regardless of who is trying to take advantage of it. And this story teaches us that the weakness will be breached. Now it’s primarily China, Russia, Iran and Israel that’s roaming free inside the US telecommunications infrastructure.
You can read about it here… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Assistance_for_Law_Enforcement_Act