The FBI has warned Americans that the ongoing Chinese national hack of U.S. communications networks is on a much larger scale than previously understood.

As Forbes reported, government agencies are now urging Americans to use encrypted messaging and phone calls instead of texting whenever possible.

While messages and calls between Android to Android and iPhone to iPhone still appear to be secure, communications between Android to iPhone are not due to a network attack attributed to Salt Typhoon, a group associated with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. not secure.

These attacks highlighted security vulnerabilities within the U.S. communications network that could always be intercepted because end-to-end encryption was not used. Messaging services such as WhatsApp have become increasingly popular in recent years as Apple, Google, and Meta have also encouraged the use of such encryption. However, before choosing an encrypted messaging app, please also refer to the best alternatives to WhatsApp.

FBI officials have also stated that U.S. citizens should have cell phones that automatically receive timely operating system updates and use responsibly managed encryption and phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication for email, social media, and their collaboration tools stated that they must be used.

FBI officials explained that extensive call and text metadata was stolen in these attacks, but not extensive call and text content. The threat actors primarily compromised the private communications of a limited number of individuals involved in government and other political activities.

A senior FBI official stated that the FBI began investigating this activity in late spring and early summer of this year and “identified that PRC-related cyber actors had compromised the networks of multiple telecommunications companies to enable multiple activities,” and that continued investigation revealed a “widespread and significant cyber espionage campaign” was uncovered, he stated.

Reuters also reported that the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce will hold a hearing on Salt Typhoon on December 11 to discuss how security threats pose a risk to U.S. telecom networks and what best practices are in place.

Protecting against the effects of Salt Typhoon should begin with the use of encrypted messaging apps.

At the same time, you want to make sure that your phone's operating system is updated frequently. This means installing updates as soon as they become available, rather than waiting to install them. Similarly, you want to enable two-factor or multi-factor authentication for all important accounts, including email and messaging apps, whenever possible.

Salt Typhoon is one of the largest cyberattacks of its kind, and as such, we will be receiving more information about these attacks themselves and how the US government plans to strengthen its defenses in the future. Until then, we should all use encryption whenever possible and avoid having sensitive conversations via text message for the time being.