China Hacks Emails of U.S. House Staff and Aides... Beijing Denies "False Information"

Salt Typhoon Linked to China Leads Attack
Uncertainty Remains Over Lawmaker Email Breaches
China Denies Allegations, Calling Them "False Information"

The hacking group "Salt Typhoon," which is linked to China, has been found to have hacked the emails of staffers and aides working for key committees in the United States House of Representatives.

According to the Financial Times (FT) on the 7th (local time), the emails of employees and aides working for major standing committees-including the House Select Committee on China, the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Intelligence Committee, and the Armed Services Committee-were hacked. However, one source explained to FT that it is not yet clear whether the emails of lawmakers themselves were also compromised.

This is not the first time "Salt Typhoon" has carried out such a hacking operation. The group operates as part of a large-scale cyber espionage campaign conducted by China's Ministry of State Security against U.S. telecommunications networks, which also sparked controversy last year. It has been reported that, through this campaign, Chinese operatives have wiretapped the communications of senior U.S. government officials over the past two years.

U.S. government officials have analyzed that the goal of this operation is not simply to extract information from the United States, but also to build China's capability to paralyze critical American infrastructure in the event of a crisis.

Mark Warner, the Democratic Vice Chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, expressed concern in December of last year that the "Salt Typhoon" campaign was not receiving enough attention, warning, "Unless we use encrypted devices, any one of us could be wiretapped."

China has denied these allegations. Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the United States, stated, "We oppose the U.S. side's baseless speculation and accusations, as well as its use of cybersecurity to disparage China and spread false information about the so-called Chinese hacking threat."