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The FBI and CISA are urging Android and iPhone users to switch to encrypted messaging systems after the Salt Typhoon hack, linked to Chinese actors, targeted U.S. telecom providers.
The breach accessed call records, live calls, and systems handling court-ordered call tracking for law enforcement. As the breach remains unresolved, officials emphasize the importance of encrypted communication.
Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android smartphones offer encrypted messaging within their own platforms, but messages exchanged between iPhone and Android users lack encryption.
“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,” Jeff Greene, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, told NBC News on a press call, adding that the size of the breach of telecom systems is large enough that it’s “impossible” for agencies “to predict a time frame on when we’ll have full eviction.”
According to Fox Business, an unnamed FBI official told NBC, “People looking to further protect their mobile device communications would benefit from considering using a cellphone that automatically receives timely operating system updates, responsibly managed encryption and phishing resistant” security tools, like multifactor authentication for email, social media and other accounts.
CISA, the FBI, NSA, and cybersecurity agencies from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand warned Wednesday that PRC-affiliated hackers breached major global telecom networks in a significant cyberespionage campaign. The agencies issued a guide for network engineers and organizations to strengthen defenses against such threats, including those with on-premises enterprise equipment.
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