The US government has warned senior officials and other “highly targeted individuals” to use encrypted messenger applications instead of ordinary phone calls and texts following a cybersecurity incident in which hackers reportedly exploited systems set up by the US authorities to wiretap Americans.
Last month, Washington accused alleged China-linked hacker group ‘Salt Typhoon’ of conducting an unprecedented cyber espionage campaign against US telecommunications companies. Beijing has repeatedly denied these allegations as baseless smears.
“This activity enabled the theft of customer call records and compromised private communications for a limited number of highly targeted individuals,” the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) stated in a new security guidance published on Wednesday.
The guidance advised “highly targeted individuals in senior government or political positions” to switch to end-to-end encrypted messaging apps for communication, along with other security-related recommendations. While the agency did not endorse any specific service, applications like Telegram, Signal, and WhatsApp provide encryption for both incoming and outgoing messages, enhancing privacy for both senders and recipients.
Last month, the CISA issued a press release attributing the security breach to actors allegedly affiliated with China – acknowledging that some of the stolen information was stored under US government surveillance protocols as part of “legal” wiretapping of American suspects.
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The hack affected the private communications of certain individuals “primarily involved in government or political activity,” as well as “information subject to US law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders,” the agency noted.
US lawmakers grilled cybersecurity experts during a Senate hearing last week, seeking ways to bolster security for American telecoms after what they described as “the largest telecommunications hack in our nation’s history.”
Beijing has consistently dismissed hacking accusations from Washington. Last week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the US uses hacking claims to vilify China and justify unilateral sanctions.
“We urge the US to stop using cybersecurity issues to smear and vilify China and to cease imposing illicit unilateral sanctions,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning stated.