U.S. telecom companies AT&T and Verizon have announced that their networks are now free from breaches following attacks by the state-funded Chinese hacking group known as Salt Typhoon. While AT&T confirmed that their operations were infiltrated, they have since eradicated the threat. Verizon, in a separate statement, reassured customers that they have contained any activities associated with the hacking incident.
In a recent statement, Verizon highlighted that the cyberattacks primarily targeted a select group of high-profile customers, including individuals in government and politics. Reports indicated that the devices of notable figures, such as President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, were among those compromised by the organized cybercriminal group.
"We have not detected threat actor activity in Verizon's network for some time," Verizon stated, adding that substantial efforts were made to address the situation and restore safety to their systems.
Previous reports from October by The Wall Street Journal indicated that telecom carriers, including AT&T and Verizon, had fallen victim to Salt Typhoon's attacks. The hackers reportedly gained access to systems used by federal authorities for court-approved wiretaps. Recently, the White House disclosed that nine different telecom companies had been targeted in these attacks.
While the specific carriers affected have not all been named, both AT&T and Verizon have acknowledged their involvement. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has thus far remained unconfirmed as an active target of the attacks but has maintained that its customers are safe.
Salt Typhoon hackers accessed sensitive metadata from numerous American users, including fragments of text messages, communication logs, and snippets of audio from voice calls. The Chinese government has denied any role in the Salt Typhoon attacks.
"We detect no activity by nation-state actors in our networks at this time,” AT&T reiterated in a recent statement. They specified that the People's Republic of China aimed at a limited number of individuals of foreign intelligence interest and assured that they have met their notification obligations in collaboration with law enforcement.
The Biden administration has been proactive in addressing these vulnerabilities through closed-door meetings with industry leaders, including AT&T CEO John Stankey. Although the total number of Americans targeted remains unclear, having the networks of AT&T, Verizon, and presumably T-Mobile operationally secure is a promising development.
