Officials with the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are imploring Americans to use encrypted messaging apps in the wake of an unprecedented Chinese cyberattack on major companies like AT&T and Verizon.
The FBI and CISA are urging U.S. citizens to use encrypted apps in order to keep their communications hidden from foreign hackers, adding that it is “impossible” to determine when telecommunications companies will be safe again from these intruders, according to a report by NBC News.
A Chinese hacking campaign known as “Salt Typhoon” aimed at companies like Microsoft “is one of the largest intelligence compromises in U.S. history, and it has not yet been fully remediated,” the outlet reported.
U.S. officials told NBC on Tuesday that spies in China has hacked AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., meanwhile, told the outlet that the communist regime wasn’t behind the hacks, adding, “China firmly opposes and combats all kinds of cyber attacks.”
But Jeff Greene, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, told NBC, “Our suggestion, what we have told folks internally, is not new here: Encryption is your friend, whether it’s on text messaging or if you have the capacity to use encrypted voice communication.”
“Even if the adversary is able to intercept the data, if it is encrypted, it will make it impossible,” Greene added.
A senior FBI official, meanwhile, told the outlet that those looking to protect their communications “would benefit from considering using a cellphone that automatically receives timely operating system updates, responsibly managed encryption and phishing resistant” multi-factor authentication for email, social media, and other messaging tools.
The FBI official — who asked to remain anonymous — added that the foreign hackers have mainly accessed three types of information.
The first type involved call records that reveal phone numbers people have called and when the calls were made — generally focusing on call records in the Washington, D.C. area. The FBI does not plan to inform those who had their phone records compromised.
The second type of hack involved live phone calls of specific targets.
While the FBI did not disclose who those targets were, the presidential campaigns for President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as the office of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told NBC in October that the FBI informed them they were targeted.
The third issue reportedly involves systems that telecommunications companies use on the off-chance that law enforcement or intelligence agencies would need to access people’s information with court orders.
The FBI official added that U.S. officials do not believe the foreign hack was intended to sway election results, despite it being carried out ahead of the 2024 election.
Instead, the hack was likely conducted for the purpose of collecting information on U.S. politics and government, the FBI official told NBC.
“We see this as a cyberespionage campaign, not dissimilar to any other approaches,” the FBI official said. “Certainly the way they went about it was very, very specific about the telcos and the ISPs, but it fits into the cyberespionage bucket.”
Encrypted messaging apps that consumers can use in order to employ end-to-end encryption in calls and text messages include Signal and WhatsApp. Google Messages and iMessage are also options.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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