Telecoms hack on US government officials is 'worst in nations history' and 'the barn door is still wide open' says senator

SoftwareSecurityTelecoms hack on US government officials is ‘worst in nations history’ and ‘the barn door is still wide open’ says senatorWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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A still from a YouTube video of Senator Mark Warner speaking

US authorities have recently revealed a US telecommunications hack that was said to have compromised the networks of multiple communications companies.

The FBI and CISA released ajoint statementearlier this month identifying “PRC (People’s Republic of China)-affiliated actors” as the cause of the hack, which the US government says enabled the theft of customer call records data, and led to “the compromise of private communications of a limited number of individuals who are primarily involved in government or political activity.”

Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner, himself a former telecommunications executive, said “the barn door is still wide open, or mostly open” in the wake of the hack (viaThe New York Times). He has also called the breach the"worst telecomms hack in our nation’s history."

“This makesColonial PipelineandSolarWindslook like small potatoes”, said Warner.

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It’s not known at this point exactly how many telecommunications providers were affected. However, according to Warner, booting the hackers out of the system entirely could involve replacing “thousands of pieces of equipment across the country”, including older models of routers and switches.

“Unlike some of the European countries where you might have a single telco, our networks are a hodgepodge of old networks. The big networks are combinations of a whole series of acquisitions, and you have equipment out there that’s so old it’s unpatchable.”

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