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Chinese hackers are still buried deep inside U.S. telecom networks. That's according to national security officials who are working to understand the scope of a Chinese spying campaign by a group they are calling Salt Typhoon. NPR's Jenna McLaughlin has the latest.
JENNA MCLAUGHLIN, BYLINE: T-Mobile's Jeff Simon tells NPR that his team recently managed to block a sophisticated hacking attempt. He says they did it by doing simple things well - constantly rotating access credentials and closely monitoring activity on company routers. For a company that's suffered a number of high-profile breaches in the past, its executives are starting to speak out about this recent success. That's in part to help others that may have failed to keep the hackers out, they say.
It's unclear whether the group T-Mobile stopped is the same one the U.S. government is calling Salt Typhoon, a group of Chinese spies stealing reams of data from telecoms and internet service providers across the country. But there do seem to be parallels. Now, U.S. officials are starting to share more information about Chinese activity targeting the communications sector. Today, President Biden's Deputy National Security Adviser on Cyber and Emerging Technology, Anne Neuberger, told reporters about the status of the administration's investigation.
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ANNE NEUBERGER: We wanted to take a few minutes to provide a brief overview of what we're doing from the White House perspective as a result of the compromise of at least eight telecommunications - or telco - infrastructure companies in the U.S., and potentially more, by the Chinese.
MCLAUGHLIN: Neuberger says this Chinese spying campaign may have impacted companies in as many as several dozen countries around the world. In the U.S., the hackers appear to have stolen metadata from a large number of American customers, Neuberger says.
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NEUBERGER: To be fully transparent, the Chinese access was broad in terms of potential access to communications of everyday Americans.
MCLAUGHLIN: However, the White House believes that the Chinese were only interested in stealing detailed records from high-profile politicians and government officials. Plus, no classified information appears to have been taken. The FBI and DHS' cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency are still working to help companies evict the hackers and defend against future breaches. It may take years. Neuberger says the White House thinks that further regulation might be necessary to improve cybersecurity across the telecom industry.
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NEUBERGER: And, really, these efforts need to be bipartisan.
MCLAUGHLIN: The incoming Trump administration will ultimately have to decide how to continue the work come January.
Jenna McLaughlin, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SHYGIRL SONG, "HEAVEN (FEAT. TINASHE)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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