Chinese state-backed threat operation Salt Typhoon was noted by Deputy National Security Adviser for Cyber and Emerging Technologies Anne Neuberger to have compromised "very senior" U.S. politicians' phone calls as part of its massive cyberespionage campaign against telecommunications firms AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies, among others, reports Reuters.
Despite the intrusions believed to have resulted in the exfiltration of Americans' metadata, such an operation was highly targeted against senior political players, noted Neuberger during the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain. "We're still investigating the scope and scale of the hacking campaign," added Neuberger. Such a development comes after a U.S. official noted the global scale of Salt Typhoon's attacks, which were previously reported by the New York Times to have been aimed at compromising communications of Biden administration officials and the family of President-elect Donald Trump. Meanwhile, China has repeatedly rejected the U.S.'s attribution of Salt Typhoon operations.
