It Appears That Chinese Hackers Have Stolen Your Naughty Texts

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Wiretap Dance

Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese hackers had successfully penetrated the networks of a number of US broadband providers.

Investigators found that the attackers had potential access to a federal government system used for court-authorized wiretapping requests — a major national security concern.

According to new comments by Senate Intelligence Committee chairman and Virginia senator Mark Warner, the situation is far worse than initially understood.

“The barn door is still wide open, or mostly open,” he told the New York Times, explaining that the hackers even have access to telephone conversations and text messages.

In short, the breach is both stunning and reportedly ongoing, exploiting the aging and insecure telecommunications infrastructure in the United States.

Data Syphon

The hack has since been linked to a Chinese intelligence-gathering group known as Salt Typhoon.

Government officials stated that the hackers were able to listen in on conversations involving president-elect Donald Trump and vice president-elect JD Vance.

They exploited outdated telecommunications equipment and weak points in the infrastructure connecting major networks, to a greater extent than first feared.

Warner warned that although US officials had previously claimed the hackers had vanished without a trace, they may still be intercepting phone calls and text messages.

“We’ve not found everywhere they are,” he told the NYT.

Even compared with earlier infiltrations by Chinese hackers, the latest operation stands out as especially serious.

“This is far and away the most serious telecom hack in our history,” Warner told the NYT. “This makes Colonial Pipeline and SolarWinds look like small potatoes,” he said, referring to two major Russian state-backed intrusions targeting the US in 2021 and 2019 respectively.

Encrypted messages on platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal, or Apple’s iMessage remained out of reach for the hackers. Standard text messages between iPhones and Android devices, as well as ordinary phone calls, were accessible.

The primary targets were national security officials and politicians. As the Washington Post reports, around 150 victims — most of them in the Washington, DC area — have been notified of the breaches by the FBI.

Meanwhile, Trump’s nominee for the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, confirmed he had already been briefed on the Salt Typhoon operation and pledged to act swiftly.

“Cybersecurity is going to be an incredibly important issue,” he told reporters, as quoted by WaPo. “National security is going to be a top priority.”

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