By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell on Tuesday said Verizon and AT&T are blocking release of key documents about an alleged massive Chinese spying operation that infiltrated U.S. telecommunications networks known as Salt Typhoon and wants their CEOs to appear before Congress to answer questions.
Cantwell asked both companies to turn over security assessments conducted by Alphabet cybersecurity unit Mandiant. She said Mandiant refused to provide the requested network security assessments, apparently at the direction of AT&T and Verizon.
“If AT&T and Verizon are not going to provide Congress key documentation voluntarily, then I believe this committee must promptly convene a hearing with their CEOs so they can explain why Americans should have confidence in the security of their networks amid mounting evidence that the Salt Typhoon hackers remain active and undeterred,” Cantwell said in a letter to Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz.
Mandiant and Verizon declined to comment. AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cantwell cited public comments from the FBI saying Salt Typhoon hackers targeted more than 200 U.S. organizations and 80 countries, which allowed Chinese intelligence officers to potentially surveil Americans’ private communications abroad and use cellphone data to track movements worldwide.
The Chinese government has denied responsibility.
In some cases, hackers are alleged to have intercepted conversations, including between prominent U.S. politicians and government officials. Several lawmakers have described them as the worst telecom hacks in U.S. history.
Cantwell said Salt Typhoon allowed the Chinese government to “geolocate millions of individuals” and “record phone calls at will,” and that the incident targeted almost every American.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; editing by Edward Tobin)
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