MC EXCLUSIVE: DON’T STAND IDLY BY — Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is pressing multiple federal agencies for answers about a monthslong Chinese espionage operation that targeted high-profile political figures, including former President Donald Trump and members of the Harris campaign, Morning Cyber is first to report. In a letter sent Friday to top officials at the Department of Justice and FBI and another sent to top officials at the Department of Homeland Security, CISA and Secret Service, the Senate Budget Committee’s top Republican expressed mounting frustration over what he characterized as a lackadaisical federal response to increasingly brazen cyberattacks by foreign adversaries, but steadily aimed at Salt Typhoon. — What Grassley wants: The letters demand detailed information by Nov. 15 on when agencies first detected the attacks, a full accounting of affected individuals and organizations, current security measures protecting government officials, steps being taken to prevent future attacks and the role of the White House’s Unified Coordination Group in response. "Without additional information from the government, it appears that our adversaries are becoming more brazen while the agencies tasked with our nation's security remain idle," Grassley wrote. — The big picture: The letters follow the Oct. 25 announcement by CISA and FBI that they're investigating "unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure" by Chinese state-affiliated hackers they presume to be Salt Typhoon. The group allegedly collected phone call audio and unencrypted text messages from multiple political targets during the 2024 campaign season. The Chinese hackers also breached major telecom providers AT&T and Verizon, as well as potentially the systems used for court-authorized wiretapping requests — potentially exposing millions of Americans' data and sensitive government information. — Why we think it matters: Chinese hacking crews like Salt Typhoon have a history of exploiting vulnerabilities in edge devices — routers, firewalls and VPNs — to breach high-profile targets. It also comes off the heels of an Iranian hack of Trump’s campaign and multiple threats against former Trump officials who requested security protection. The telecommunications sector has been particularly vulnerable, facing multiple major breaches in recent years — including a massive AT&T breach affecting nearly 110 million people (that Grassley had also requested answers for in August). — Admin response so far: The Biden administration has activated a rare "unified coordination group" — an emergency response process — to combat the Salt Typhoon threat. DHS confirmed its Cyber Safety Review Board will "initiate a review of this incident at the appropriate time." VANCE’S STANCES ON FISA — Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance (R-Ohio) suggested on the Joe Rogan podcast ahead of the weekend that the same surveillance infrastructure created by the Patriot Act to enable domestic law enforcement may have given Chinese hackers a roadmap to America's telecommunications networks that hit his phone. — How Vance is explaining it: "The way that they hacked our phones is they used the back door telecom infrastructure that had been developed in the wake of the Patriot Act," Vance told Rogan when discussing the recent Salt Typhoon operation that targeted his and former President Trump's phones. Let’s make one thing clear: No one is sure what happened yet when it comes to those breaches. — The context: While Vance appeared unconcerned about his own exposure ("some offensive memes" and grocery lists, he joked), the broader security implications could reshape the Section 702 surveillance debate. His comments suggest a Republican administration might break with traditional party support for broad surveillance powers. Congress has long debated the renewal of Section 702 of FISA — a controversial power that’s used for surveillance of foreigners abroad — and earlier this year was reauthorized on a two-year term. The program has faced growing bipartisan skepticism over privacy concerns and would be met by a Trump-Vance administration in 2026 should the Republicans win. — Some small wins: Rogan thinks the name Salt Typhoon is a “great name.” Hats off, Microsoft. ALL CLEAR — Speaking of Chinese hackers infiltrating U.S. telecommunications networks to hit politicians, want to know who hasn’t been targeted so far? Members of the Select House Committee on China. “To our knowledge, no one on the Select Committee was a target of these cyberattacks,” a spokesperson for the committee told Maggie on Friday. A spokesperson for House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told Maggie that McCaul “has been briefed” by both the FBI and the Senate Sergeant at Arms “in the last couple of months on the threat landscape facing both him personally and the U.S. elections.” That doesn’t mean members of Congress aren’t potential targets of the hacking group, known as Salt Typhoon. Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee will be receiving a classified briefing when Congress returns from recess on the hacking efforts, and leaders of the House Homeland Security and Intelligence committees are also keeping a close eye on the topic.
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