Policymakers are scrambling to stop a massive hack of U.S. telecommunications networks by a Chinese state-backed cyber group known as Salt Typhoon.
Salt Typhoon has engaged in a wide-ranging espionage campaign going back as far as 2022, infiltrating major U.S. telecommunications networks including Verizon, AT&T, and CenturyLink.
The hackers have used persistent access to those companies’ infrastructure to collect metadata from a large number of customers, including the dates, times, and recipients of calls and texts made by an unknown number of Americans.
Though the total scale of metadata stolen is not yet known, the hackers also absconded with the actual audio files of calls and content from texts from a smaller group of users, including some at the highest echelons of government.
Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Kamala Harris were all targeted in the attack, though Vance has said that he believes use of an encryption application prevented the hackers from obtaining his texts and calls.
The FBI has contacted those whose calls and texts were targeted by the campaign, but officials have left the responsibility of notifying those whose metadata was compromised to the discretion of the telecommunications companies.
The apparent scope and severity of the Salt Typhoon attack raises questions about the security of the telecommunications infrastructure used by most Americans every day.
Vance said that Salt Typhoon was able to tap into his phone because the group exploited backdoors in the companies’ infrastructure originally established to accommodate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the Patriot Act, which granted American intelligence agencies sweeping surveillance powers.
To that end, CISA Executive Assistant Director Jeff Greene said during a call with reporters that Americans should ensure they are using an encrypted messaging app to prevent Salt Typhoon from obtaining their calls and texts.
Greene also underscored that the China-backed hackers are still in U.S. infrastructure, and it is unclear when they will be fully evicted.
Yet Salt Typhoon is only one part of a suite of Chinese state-backed hacking groups to emerge in the last half decade, each of which has aimed to undermine U.S. national security in some way.
Flax Typhoon was first revealed by the FBI in September, when the agency announced that it had disrupted a vast Chinese hacking operation that involved the installation of malicious software on more than 200,000 consumer devices, including cameras, video recorders and home and office routers.
The infected devices were then used to create a massive network of infected computers, or botnet, that could be used to carry out other cyber crimes, the FBI said.
Volt Typhoon, on the other hand, is a similar group that has successfully infiltrated thousands of U.S. systems including critical infrastructure related to U.S. water, gas, energy, rail, air, and ports.
Malware from all three cyber groups remains embedded in some U.S. systems.
It is unclear at this time what action the Biden administration will take in response to the sweeping cyberattacks. Responding to a question from The Epoch Times, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said that he would not preview any actions the administration may or may not take against China.
China’s ruling communist party denies that it engages in espionage against Americans.
—Andrew Thornebrooke
‘VERY AGGRESSIVE’ FIRST 100 DAYS
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) says he and President-elect Donald Trump are working on strategy for the first 100 days of the incoming Republican-dominated government.
“I’ve been talking daily with the incoming White House. ... President-elect Trump and I will be talking about this in depth this weekend before the Army-Navy game,” Johnson said during a Dec. 10 press conference.
He was referencing the upcoming Dec. 14 football game between the two military academy rivals at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. Trump and Johnson plan to attend the game.
Trump’s team has signaled that they hope to pass substantial legislative changes on issues like border security, energy policy, and tax policy within days of Trump taking office.
Johnson said Republicans are ready to begin pursuing “an America First agenda … right out of the gates” following the transition of power in January.
That would include a “very aggressive first 100 days agenda,” Johnson said, saying Republicans have been preparing for more than a year.
Johnson didn’t address how leadership would handle their paper-thin majority in the House, which will fall as low as 217 seats—below the majority threshold for a full House—in the first couple weeks of the 119th Congress due to resignations by Trump appointees.
Such a thin majority still gives Republicans a slight edge over Democrats and would require effectively unanimous GOP support for any of these proposals.
The task would be easier in the upper chamber, where Republicans enter with a far more secure majority with 53 seats to the Democrats’ 47 seats.
Generally, large legislative changes on controversial issues stall in the Senate, where most legislation requires a 60-vote majority to advance to a vote on final passage.
However, the budget reconciliation system provides a tempting alternative that can bypass the 60-vote threshold—but it’s highly limited to policy that directly affects federal budgets, expenditures, or revenues.
But the House and Senate are somewhat split on how to approach the border and tax issues, their top priorities.
Some House Republicans, led by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), want the two combined, forcing opponents of one or the other to cast an all-or-nothing vote, which could make both easier to pass.
In the Senate, however, incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has indicated he’s pursuing a two-part approach, passing a border overhaul bill first before moving on to tax policy.
Trump’s team has signaled they support Thune’s approach.
However, with Republicans’ thin majority in the House, just a few defectors—such as those aligning with Smith in support of an all-in-one package—could tank the legislation.
—Joseph Lord
BOOKMARKS
President-elect Donald Trump is seeking to have his New York business records case dismissed, but Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg thinks he is asking too much. Trump’s request cites presidential immunity and possible interference with his administration; Bragg suggests the case can be paused till Trump leaves office.
Luigi Mangione, suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is fighting extradition to New York. Mangione has been denied bail and faces five counts, including murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
Florida House Rep. Susan Valdes was reelected as a Democrat on Nov. 5, but has decided to switch her party affiliation to Republican. “I’m tired of being the party of protesting when I got into politics to be part of the party of progress,” she said in a statement.
Several European countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, and Sweden, have stopped processing asylum claims from refugees fleeing Syria. The move follows the toppling of the Assad family’s 50-year rule over the country, and the ending of a 13-year civil war.
President Joe Biden announced on Dec. 10 that he plans to veto bipartisan legislation that would add 66 federal judges to the judiciary over the next 10 years. The bill passed the Senate unanimously, but Democrats are accusing the GOP-led House of delaying its passage until Trump won the presidency.
—Stacy Robinson
