The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is requesting public assistance in reporting information related to the People’s Republic of China (PRC)-affiliated cyber activity publicly tracked as ‘Salt Typhoon,’ which involves the compromise of multiple U.S. telecommunications companies. Issued via the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the announcement seeks details, especially regarding individuals linked to the campaign.
The investigation has uncovered a broad and sophisticated cyber operation that exploited access to telecommunications networks to target victims globally. The activity led to the theft of call data records, a limited number of private communications involving known victims, and the unauthorized copying of select information tied to U.S. law enforcement requests under court order.
The agency noted that the FBI and U.S. government partners have previously released public statements on Salt Typhoon activity on Oct. 25 and Nov. 13. They also published the guide, ‘Enhanced Visibility and Hardening Guidance for Communications Infrastructure,’ on Dec. 3, 2024.
FBI maintains its commitment to protecting the U.S. telecommunications sector and the individuals and organizations targeted by Salt Typhoon by identifying, mitigating, and disrupting Salt Typhoon’s malicious cyber activity.
“If you have any information about the individuals who comprise Salt Typhoon or other Salt Typhoon activity, we would particularly like to hear from you,” the IC3 alert added.
In addition, the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program is offering a reward of up to US$10 million for information about foreign government-linked individuals participating in certain malicious cyber activities against US critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).
Earlier this month, Ron Wyden, a Democratic Senator from Oregon, placed a hold on Sean Plankey’s nomination to serve as director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Wyden is demanding the release of critical, unclassified information regarding security threats to U.S. phone networks.
The Senator’s move follows repeated requests that CISA has allegedly ignored, calling for the agency to disclose details essential to public understanding of vulnerabilities, particularly in the wake of China’s ‘Salt Typhoon’ cyber operation targeting American networks.
Last month, Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security approached the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to request information and documents regarding the federal government’s response to extensive cyber intrusions by ‘Volt Typhoon‘ and ‘Salt Typhoon,’ two advanced persistent threat actors supported by the PRC.
The members sought information on when DHS and the CISA first became aware of the threats and damages caused by these intrusions and asked for a timeline of CISA’s responses to these events.
This week, the FBI released its 2024 Internet Crime Report, revealing a staggering $16.6 billion in losses reported to the IC3 over the past year. Fraud was the leading cause of these losses, while ransomware continued to pose the most persistent threat to critical infrastructure, with related complaints rising 9 percent from 2023. The report also found that individuals aged 60 and older suffered the highest financial losses and submitted the largest number of complaints among all age groups.
