A senior White House official said Wednesday that at least eight U.S. telecommunications companies and dozens of nations have been affected by a Chinese hacking campaign.
Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger offered new details about the breadth of the extensive Chinese hacking campaign that allowed officials in Beijing to access private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans.
Neuberger revealed the scope of the hack a day after the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued guidelines intended to help root out hackers and prevent similar cyberespionage from being perpetrated in the future.
White House officials warned that the number of telecom companies and countries impacted could continue to grow.
The United States believes hackers were able to access the communications of high-ranking U.S. government officials and prominent political figures through the hack, Neuberger said.
“We do not believe any confidential communications were compromised,” Neuberger added during a call with reporters.
He added that Biden has been briefed on the findings and that the White House “has made this a priority for the federal government to do everything it can to get to the bottom of it.”
The Chinese embassy in Washington on Tuesday rejected accusations that it was responsible for the hack after US federal authorities issued new guidelines.
“The United States needs to stop its own cyber attacks against other countries and refrain from using cybersecurity to smear and slander China,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said.
The embassy did not immediately respond to messages Wednesday.
White House officials believe the hack was regionally targeted and targeted very high-ranking government officials.
Federal authorities confirmed in October that hackers linked to China were targeting the phones of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, along with people associated with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.
The number of countries affected by the hack is currently believed to be “a few dozen,” according to a senior US official.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under rules set by the White House, said they believe the hacks began at least a year or two ago.
The recommendations for telecommunications companies released Tuesday are largely technical, urging encryption, centralization and constant monitoring to deter cyber intrusions.
If implemented, the security measures could help disrupt the operation, which has been dubbed Salt Typhoon, and make it difficult for China or any other nation to launch a similar attack in the future, according to experts.
Neuberger mentioned the efforts that have been undertaken to strengthen cybersecurity in the rail, aviation, energy and other sectors following the May 2021 ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline.
“So to prevent continued Salt Typhoon-type intrusions by China, we believe we need to apply a similar minimum cybersecurity practice,” Neuberger said.
The cyberattack by a group of criminal hackers on the important US oil pipeline, which delivers approximately 45% of the fuel used along the country’s East Coast, had repercussions on the economy, highlighting cybersecurity vulnerabilities on the nation’s aging energy infrastructure.
Colonial confirmed it paid $4.4 million to the hacking group that broke into its computer systems as it rushed to restart the nation’s fuel pipeline.
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