‘It is clear that we face a cyber-adversary the likes of which we have never confronted before,’ the House Select Committee on the CCP said in a letter.
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) sent a letter to the CEOs of Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies on Oct. 10, seeking answers after the companies were reported hacked by a group with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The Wall Street Journal first reported the hack, writing that several telecom companies, including the three named, were victims of a CCP-backed cyberattack and that hackers had access to the networks for months or longer.
“The implications of any breach of this nature would be difficult to overstate,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
They noted that the committee previously held a hearing highlighting the threat of “Volt Typhoon,” a CCP-backed hacking campaign that had successfully compromised critical U.S. infrastructure, whereas this campaign is reportedly an effort by “Salt Typhoon,” a separate unit closely linked with the CCP’s spy agency.
According to the Wall Street Journal reports, the attackers accessed networks with information about criminal and national security information and would have had access to millions of Americans’ communications data through these internet service providers.
“Taken together … it is clear that we face a cyber-adversary the likes of which we have never confronted before, and we must urgently enhance our nation’s approach to cybersecurity,” the lawmakers’ letter reads.
The lawmakers are requesting a closed-door briefing with representatives from each company to understand the scope of the cyberattack, countermeasures taken, and what is still necessary.
They noted that the CCP cybersecurity threat is one that “neither the public nor private sectors can tackle alone,” requesting mutual cooperation and asking the companies to share how the federal government can help.
In an Oct. 6 talk, National Security Agency Director General Timothy Haugh said that while the U.S. targets of these cyberattacks are often individual private companies, the CCP is using its entire state apparatus to go after these individual targets.
“The scope and sophistication at which the [CCP] continues to grow its capabilities and extend its global reach is matched only by the sheer scale and speed of which it acts,” Haugh said at the conference hosted by Cipher Brief.
However, he said, he was confident in the United States’ ability to counter the threat because he has seen voluntary cooperation across public and private sectors. He noted that the technological advancements of the private sector are a key advantage the United States has over the CCP, which stifles its innovators.
“Truly, the cyber domain is created by industry. And it is industry who will most directly impact our collective ability to defend U.S. interests and those of our allies,” he said. “The value that we place on freedom of thought allows us to innovate and partner quickly, contradicting the [CCP’s] mindset of centralized control.”