Despite company assurances, reports indicate ongoing doubts among security experts that Salt Typhoon has been fully eradicated from our telecommunications networks, Cantwell tells CEOs 

Letter comes as Cantwell details how Republican Reconciliation bill would open critical national security spectrum for private telecom companies and risk interference and infiltration by Chinese and other bad actors 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, demanded answers from AT&T Chairman and CEO John Stankey and from Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg about ongoing vulnerabilities related to the successful Chinese state-sponsored “Salt Typhoon” hack discovered last year. Salt Typhoon deeply penetrated major U.S. telecommunications networks, including AT&T and Verizon, but in December 2024, both companies claimed that their networks were secure.

“Current and former government experts continue to indicate that Salt Typhoon may remain active in U.S. networks,” Sen. Cantwell wrote in separate letters to the CEOs. “They have explained how telecommunications networks are complex and full of hardware and software vulnerabilities Salt Typhoon can exploit to create multiple pathways to reenter the network. Experts also noted the sheer scale of any network would likely need a forensic analysis of tens of thousands of endpoints to identify all potential compromises.”

In addition to the sheer magnitude of the attack, the Chinese gained access to the geolocation and cell phone data of millions of Americans including then-candidates Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. Earlier this year, the FBI confirmed the hackers also stole call data logs, private communications of certain victims, and copied information on U.S. law enforcement wiretap systems.

Despite this massive breach, AT&T in December 2024 stated that there was “no activity by nation-state actors in our networks at this time.” And Verizon claimed it “has contained the activities associated with this particular incident.”

“Given the national security, critical infrastructure, and privacy risks involved, AT&T and Verizon must make every effort to protect their customers against these highly sophisticated foreign adversaries—and be fully transparent about such efforts,” concluded Sen. Cantwell.

Last week, Senate Republicans released text of its reconciliation bill that would auction off spectrum adjacent to DoD and aviation equities to the telecom industry to raise money for tax cuts. The plan has faced criticism for the dangerous impact it would have on both national and aviation security. During a discussion earlier today at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Sen. Cantwell was asked why Senate Republicans would push for a spectrum auction plan that would open our national security telecommunications networks to private industry despite possible infiltration and interference by Chinese or other bad actors.   

“Well, I wish we were involved in the negotiations, because I would definitely go to the White House and say to the President of the United States, ‘You have a vision of what you want to do to make the United States more secure with Golden Dome and all of these ideas…but I got news for you. This is about disarming, and you are basically going to hand the Chinese a victory” Sen. Cantwell answered. “[I]f you think about the telecom sector, they're saying, ‘Well, we just need it, because we want more 5 and 6G.’ But you're basically saying, ‘I'm going to open up critical defense infrastructure to the infiltration by a lot of people to come in and interfere.’”

“I get that they want to sell more cell phones and sell more policies….but I think we see from Salt Typhoon that they’ve got their own problems,” the Senator added. “Not all of them, but some of them, basically didn't even understand the attack. We as Americans, should take this personally because it's attacking our information. It released a ton of information on us. So you have to build more secure networks, telecom sector. But instead of building those more secure networks and putting money in, they're out there asking us just to vacate DoD spectrum for missile defense, so you can sell some more, whatever it is, $29.99 plans.”

The text of the letter to AT&T can be found HERE and the text of the letter to Verizon can be found HERE.

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