The Congressional remedy for Salt Typhoon? More information sharing with industry

When news broke approximately a year ago that Chinese hackers had systemically penetrated at least nine major U.S. communications networks, the level of alarm from policymakers was clear.  

At a hearing held Tuesday by the Senate Committee on Commerce, experts offered differing assessments of the threat. While intelligence officials have characterized the Salt Typhoon operation’s targeting of high-level U.S. politicians as falling within the bounds of traditional geopolitical espionage, other experts argued that the unprecedented scale of  China’s hacking activity in the U.S. telecom sector —  and the country’s pursuit of broader, long-term access — constitutes a more systemic attack on critical infrastructure that poses a serious threat to national security.

Jamil Jaffer, executive director of the National Security Institute at George Mason University, noted before the committee that “the reality is that our adversaries don’t know where our red lines are” when it comes to intrusions like Salt Typhoon, because the U.S. has failed to effectively communicate its boundaries to adversary nations in cyberspace.

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