Salt Typhoon hack  US Senator presents new bill to beef up telecoms' security

Date:
Wed, 11 Dec 2024 17:22:03 +0000

Description:
The Secure American Communications Act aims to beef up US telecoms' network
security against unauthorized access.

FULL STORY
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A US Senator has presented a new bill to secure the networks of the country's
telecommunication companies targeted by the China-linked Salt Typhoon hacking
group. 

What's considered to be the largest intelligence compromise in US history
sparked a call to all US citizens to switch to encrypted communications last
week. At least eight of the country's largest telecoms were hacked to spy on
their customers' activities, including AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies. 

The Secure American Communications Act would require the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to "fix its own failure" and fully implement
the cybersecurity rules under the 1994 legislation. US telecoms are also
required to submit annual security tests and audits to the FCC.

A turning point?

"It was inevitable that foreign hackers would burrow deep into the American
communications system the moment the FCC decided to let phone companies write
their own cybersecurity rules," said Ron Wyden , US Senator of Oregon who
announced the bill. 

Under the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), the
FCC was already expected to ensure telecom operators secure their systems
against unauthorized access  something that, apparently, the watchdog never
did fully. 

"Telecom companies and federal regulators were asleep on the job and as a
result, Americans calls, messages, and phone records have been accessed by
foreign spies intent on undermining our national security," said again Wyden. 

"Congress needs to step up and pass mandatory security rules to finally 
secure our telecom system against an infestation of hackers and spies." 

The Secure American Communications Act is the third proposal Wyden presented
so far in a bid to beef up the security of US communications networks. While
Salt Typhoon hackers reportedly targeted at least 8 American 
telecommunication networks, the Chinese cyber-espionage campaign seems to be 
a lot bigger as 'dozens' of countries may be affected .

As per Wyden's latest proposal, US telecoms will need to implement specific
cybersecurity requirements to prevent external interceptions, while 
conducting both internal and independent evaluations on their systems every
year. 

In the meantime, new cybersecurity practices come into force, and the FBI and
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have shared security
recommendations for both customers and enterprises. 

According to experts, US citizens should secure all their communications with
encryption . This technology is used by the likes of WhatsApp, Signal, or
secure email like Proton Mail, to scramble data into an unreadable form to
prevent third-party access  ensuring communications remain private. 

FBI officials also suggest keeping your smartphone up-to-date and enabling
two-factor authentication whenever possible to protect your accounts against
phishing attacks. 

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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/salt-typhoon-hack-us-senato
r-presents-new-bill-to-beef-up-telecoms-security

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