A Chinese-backed hacking campaign that previously breached nine U.S. telecommunication and internet providers is now confirmed to have hacked at least 200 American companies, according to the FBI’s top cyber chief.
FBI Assistant Director Brett Leatherman told The Washington Post that the hackers, dubbed Salt Typhoon, also broke into companies in 80 countries. This revelation marks the first time the global scale of the Chinese spying campaign has been disclosed. Leatherman did not name the specific companies that were hacked.
Previously confirmed victims include AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen. Charter Communications and Windstream were later named as victims, among other companies.
The hackers specifically targeted call records belonging to senior American politicians and officials. This activity allowed them to map out communication networks and identify who was calling whom, including details on whom the U.S. government was monitoring with legal orders.
The threat was at one point so severe that the FBI urged Americans to switch to encrypted messaging apps to prevent their calls and messages from being accessed.
In an advisory published Wednesday, the FBI along with nearly two dozen international agencies stated that Salt Typhoon primarily targets company routers to siphon sensitive network traffic. The advisory provided technical guidance on how organizations can identify such intrusions.
Leatherman told the Post that the threat from China is ongoing.