The hacking operation is believed to be one of the largest intelligence compromises in US history.
Dozens of nations have been hit by an alleged hacking campaign led by a Chinese group, a senior White House official has claimed.
According to the US deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, Anne Neuberger, the hacking group known as Salt Typhoon breached at least eight US telecommunications providers in order to spy on top US political figures.
The group, which is allegedly backed by China, has been linked to various telecommunications cyberattacks in recent months.
White House officials estimate that about two dozen countries might have been affected by the hack. Given the estimated scale of the breach, this would make the hacking incident one of the largest intelligence compromises in US history.
Some of the affected providers in the latest hacking incident include Verizon, AT&T and Lumen Technologies.
According to Neuberger, all of the affected companies are currently working to resolve the issue, but stressed that none of the providers appear to have fully removed the Chinese actors from these networks, so there is still “a risk of ongoing compromises”.
Neuberger added that while the hackers were able to gain access to communications of senior US government officials and prominent political figures, the authorities don’t believe any classified communications have been compromised.
She also said that the White House “has made it a priority for the federal government to do everything it can to get to the bottom this”.
In the meantime, US officials have urged Americans to use encrypted messaging apps to minimise the chances of China allegedly gaining access to their communications.
According to CNN, the revelation from Neuberger comes after senior US intelligence officials gave a classified briefing to senators on Wednesday (4 December) regarding the hacking campaign. It is understood that President Joe Biden has also been briefed about the alleged hacking incident.
AP recently reported that the Chinese embassy in Washington on Tuesday (3 December) rejected the accusations that it was responsible for the hack. In response, embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said: “The US needs to stop its own cyberattacks against other countries and refrain from using cybersecurity to smear and slander China.”
Salt Typhoon has gained notoriety in recent months by targeting a variety of large wireless network operators, such as the aforementioned AT&T, Verizon and Lumen Technologies. A report published last month claimed that Salt Typhoon’s tactics are some of the most advanced cyber espionage efforts researchers have ever seen.
Earlier this year, the US Department of Justice disrupted a Chinese “state-sponsored” botnet attack on consumer devices. A court-authorised operation found that more than 200,000 consumer devices in the US were infected with malware by the alleged Chinese hacking group known as Flax Typhoon.
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