Senators Call for DOD Probe After 'Salt Typhoon' Hack

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., are calling for an investigation into the Pentagon after it failed to secure its communications from Chinese hackers in what is being referred to as the "Salt Typhoon," a press release from the congressmen's office read.

A top White House official on Wednesday said at least eight U.S. telecom firms and dozens of nations have been impacted by a Chinese hacking campaign.

Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger offered the new details about the breadth of the sprawling Chinese hacking campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans.

Neuberger divulged the scope of the hack a day after the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued guidance intended to help root out the hackers and prevent similar cyberespionage in the future. White House officials cautioned that number of telecommunication firms and countries impacted could still grow.

The White House said in a press call Wednesday evening, according to cybersecurity journalist Eric Geller, that "the Salt Typhoon activity 'has been underway for some time,' a senior administration official said, 'likely one to two years.' China has hacked telcos in 'a couple of dozen' countries during that time."

"At this time, we don't believe any classified communications have been compromised," Neuberger said.

Geller went on to report the White House as saying that "China accessed 'a large number of Americans' metadata' while hunting for the calls and texts of specific targets. … 'We do not believe every cell phone in the country [was accessed] … We believe it was likely more regional, given their focus' on [government/politics]."

Neuberger added that "Right now, we do not believe any [telecoms] have fully removed the Chinese actors from these networks, so there is a risk of ongoing compromises to communications."

"President Biden," she continued, "has been briefed multiple times on this compromise." The White House "has made it a priority for the federal government to do everything it can to get to the bottom of this."

In a letter to Department of Defense Inspector General Robert Storch, Wyden, and Schmitt wrote: "DOD's failure to secure its unclassified voice, video, and text communications with end-to-end encryption technology has left it needlessly vulnerable to foreign espionage. Moreover, although DOD is among the largest buyers of wireless telephone service in the United States, it has failed to use its purchasing power to require cyber defenses and accountability from wireless carriers. We urge you to investigate DOD's failure to secure its communications, and to recommend the changes in policy necessary to protect DOD communications from foreign adversaries."

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