US Tells Officials, Politicians to Ditch Calls and Texts

Friday, December 20, 2024

The U.S. government is urging senior government officials and politicians to ditch phone calls and text messages following intrusions at major American telecommunications companies blamed on Chinese hackers.

Posted by LampLighter at 05:32 PM | 4 COMMENTS | permalink

www.reuters.com/world/us/us- ... US government tells officials, politicians to ditch regular calls and texts

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-- Cynthia Brumfield (@metacurity.com) December 18, 2024 at 4:38 PM

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More from the article...

... Right now.

In written guidance

, opens new tab released on Wednesday, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said "individuals who are in senior government or senior political positions" should "immediately review and apply" a series of best practices around the use of mobile devices.

The first recommendation: "Use only end-to-end encrypted communications. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-12-19 12:15 AM

Not really a surprise ...

China's Salt Typhoon recorded top American officials' calls, says White House
www.theregister.com

T-Mobile US CSO: Spies jumped from one telco to another in a way 'I've not seen in my career'
www.theregister.com

Chinese cyberspies, Musk's Beijing ties, labelled 'real risk' to US security by senator
www.theregister.com

etc...

Blocking Chinese spies from intercepting calls? There ought to be a law
www.theregister.com

... US telecoms carriers would be required to implement minimum cyber security standards and ensure their systems are not susceptible to hacks by nation-state attackers " like Salt Typhoon " under legislation proposed by senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The Secure American Communications Act [PDF], if signed into law, would require the Federal Communications Commission to issue binding rules for telecom systems, following what Wyden calls the FCC's "failure" to implement security standards already required by federal law. ...