Chinese intelligence accessed emails of US congressional committee staff — FT

China's intelligence, operating within the Salt Typhoon group, accessed email systems used by some staff of the House of Representatives committee on China, as well as by aides to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Intelligence Committee, and the Armed Services Committee.

Chinese Ministry of State Security has been running the Salt Typhoon operation for several years. The system reportedly allows Beijing to access unencrypted phone calls, text messages, and voicemail of nearly every American.

According to the sources familiar with the campaign, Salt Typhoon has also intercepted calls involving senior US officials over the past several years.

Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden's former U.S. National Security Adviser, told the Financial Times last year after leaving the White House that US telecommunications companies are "highly vulnerable" to Salt Typhoon.

China's embassy in Washington has denied the allegations to Salt Typhoon. Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said Beijing firmly opposes the unfounded speculation and accusations by the US.

Background

The new information campaign is one of many cyber-espionage efforts by Chinese intelligence targeting US infrastructure.

In 2024, the FBI and other US agencies said that a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group had infiltrated US energy, transportation, and communications systems in ways that could help China in the event of a conflict with the United States.

The US Treasury Department once planned to impose sanctions on mobile telecommunications entities linked to Salt Typhoon, but later changed course amid concerns that such measures could undermine the detente reached between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Earlier, the United Kingdom also released evidence of large-scale Chinese espionage operations that threatened the country's national security and economy.