NBCreports an “unprecedented cyberattack,” nicknamed Salt Typhoon by Microsoft , has potentially exposed private communications to foreign hackers. Officials said China had hacked targeted major telecommunication companies such as AT&T , Verizon and Lumen Technologies to spy on customers.
What you should do:
The FBI and CISA ( Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency ) are recommending people use encrypted messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Signal, to minimize hackers’ chances of interception their text messages. Both WhatsApp and Signals also allow encrypted phone calls between users through the internet.
Apple iMessages, which appear blue between iPhone users, and Google Messages, sent between Android users, are also fully encrypted using Signal’s protocol.
However, texts sent from an iPhone to an Android and vice versa are not fully encrypted. According to NBC, messages between different devices are encrypted only with Rich Communications Services (RCS), which in the U.S. are all decrypted by Google.
Telegram, another messaging app, claims it offers end-to-end encryption but reportedly does not encrypt conversations by default and has been scrutinized by cybersecurity experts.
“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. Even if the adversary is able to intercept the data, if it is encrypted, it will make it impossible,” Jeff Greene , executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, told NBC .
More about encryption and the hack:
According to Yahoo! News, encryption is a technology that scrambles messages and requires a “key” to be able to see or hear it. WhatsApp and Signal are apps that automatically use end-to-end encryption between users who have the unique code to unscramble messages; the corporate owner and operator of the apps will not have access to them, even if hacked or given a court order.
Forbes reports hackers likely obtained cell phone companies’ temporary call and SMS records, including which phone numbers called or texted and when, but likely did not get expansive call and text content.
Officials did not say how many Americans may be compromised, but Greene told NBC the Chinese hacking campaign was so large that it’s “impossible... to predict a time frame on when we’ll have full eviction.”
CISA, America’s cyber defense agency, released “Enhanced Visibility and Hardening Guidance for Communications Infrastructure” on Wednesday. U.S. organizations who identify any suspicious activity are encouraged to contact their local FBI field office, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), or to CISA by calling 1-844-Say-CISA (1-844-729-2472), emailing report@cisa.dhs.gov, or reporting online at cisa.gov/report.
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