The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have issued warnings to Android and iPhone users following the Salt Typhoon cyber breach. The breach, attributed to Chinese actors, compromised call records, live phone calls of specific targets, and systems used by telecom firms to manage court orders from law enforcement.
The U.S. government launched an investigation into the Salt Typhoon cyber breach after Microsoft reported irregularities in telecommunications networks. The breach has raised concerns about the security of major telecom providers.
Senator Mark Warner said Salt Typhoon was “the worst telecom hack in our nation’s history,” surpassing prior Russian cyber operations.
The CISA is focusing on the breach’s impact on user data. The breach has been widely attributed to Chinese-affiliated threat actors. Richard Forno, a cybersecurity expert, said, “This attack is indeed breathtaking in its scope and severity.”
Senator Richard Blumenthal said, “The delayed detection of Salt Typhoon is mind-boggling. It exposes systemic vulnerabilities that demand immediate attention.”
Officials are urging users to adopt encrypted messaging systems to protect their communications. Current messaging between Android and iPhone devices lacks encryption, leaving users vulnerable.
Officials stressed that the breach is unresolved and encourage users to switch to encrypted messaging systems. While iPhone-to-iPhone and Android-to-Android messages are encrypted, communications between the two systems are not.
Jeff Greene, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, stated that encryption is crucial for secure communication. He noted that the breach’s scale makes it “impossible” for agencies to predict when full remediation will occur.
Greene said, “Our suggestion, what we have told folks internally, is not new here. Encryption is your friend, whether it’s on text messaging or if you have the capacity to use encrypted voice communication.”
CISA, the FBI, the National Security Agency, and cybersecurity agencies from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand issued a joint warning about the breach. They stated that Chinese-affiliated threat actors compromised networks of global telecommunications providers to execute a cyberespionage campaign.
