US officials are diligently working to assist major telecom providers in removing Chinese government-backed hackers from their networks, a task with no definitive timeline as of now, according to statements made on Tuesday.
A senior official from the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) revealed the ongoing struggle, noting, ‘We’re still figuring out just how deeply and where they’ve penetrated, so until we have a complete picture, it’s hard to know the exact parameters of how to kick them off.’ This indicates the complexity and depth of the infiltration, which impacts a significant sector of US telecommunications.
An FBI senior official added insight by highlighting the efforts required to fully understand the extent of potential People’s Republic of China (PRC) activities within these networks. The focus remains on understanding the full landscape of infiltration to effectively remove the threats posed by these hackers.
This situation has drawn heightened attention, particularly as the alleged intruders have targeted phone communications involving high-ranking US political figures, including President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance. The hacking attempts have quickly ascended as a critical issue for the upcoming administration’s national security agenda.
Telecom giants Verizon and AT&T have been named among those targeted, with both companies collaborating extensively with federal authorities to counteract the hacking. According to officials, the duration and depth of their collaboration correlate with their progress in addressing the cybersecurity threat.
The investigative efforts by the FBI into these hacking activities commenced in late spring or early summer of the current year. A senior FBI official provided a detailed update on the espionage campaign, mentioning the hackers’ collection of vast amounts of bulk phone records. These records included data on communication times, locations, and participants, though not the specific contents of the messages or calls.
In some cases, a limited group of US government officials or those involved in politics experienced interceptions of their call and text data. Additionally, hackers reportedly copied certain information subject to lawful US enforcement requests as per court orders. However, these court-ordered wiretap portals within telecom providers were not the primary focus of the hackers.
The official emphasized that the PRC’s campaign initially aimed much broader, with national security and law enforcement intercepts being just one target among many once they breached the networks.
The ongoing battle against Chinese hackers within US telecom networks underscores a significant challenge in digital security, particularly at the intersection of national security and personal communication privacy. Authorities are committed to untangling this web of cyber interference, though achieving total network integrity remains a complex task lacking a clear end date.
Source: CNN
