CBS News
U.S. begins to retaliate against China over hack of telecom networks
The Biden administration is beginning to retaliate against China for its sweeping hack of U.S. telecommunications companies earlier this year.
Last week the Commerce Department issued a notice to China Telecom Americas, the U.S. subsidiary of one of China’s largest communications firms, alleging in a preliminary finding that its presence in American telecom networks and cloud services poses a national security risk. The company has 30 days to respond, although the Commerce Department has not said what action it plans to take next.
The New York Times was the first to report the action, which is a direct response to China’s infiltration of telecom networks earlier this year. The China-backed hacking group known as Salt Typhoon penetrated the networks of numerous companies including Verizon, AT&T and Lumen Technologies, a U.S. official familiar with the matter told to CBS News in October.
It’s unclear what the impact on China Telecom would be, since the FCC has already limited China Telecom Americas’ ability to operate in U.S. communications infrastructure. In October 2021, the FCC revoked its license to provide phone services in the US.
The FCC found that China Telecom “is subject to exploitation, influence, and control by the Chinese government and is highly likely to be forced to comply with Chinese government requests without sufficient legal procedures subject to independent judicial oversight.”
China Telecom Americas has not responded to requests for comment.
U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials are continuing to try to learn more about the scope of the hack, which targeted U.S. surveillance capabilities used for operations including wiretaps. U.S. intelligence officials routinely seek court authorization to use telecom systems like those targeted in the breach to collect information for law enforcement or national security probes.
One fear is that the cyberattacks could have allowed the hackers to access information about ongoing U.S. investigations — including those tied to China — through the collection of sensitive data and techniques.
China’s incursions into U.S. critical infrastructure — including water treatment plants and the electrical grid — have lawmakers on Capitol Hill and the incoming Trump administration warning of a more aggressive retaliatory posture going forward.
Rep. Mike Waltz, designated by President-elect Trump to be national security adviser, told Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” Sunday, “We need to start going on offense and start imposing, I think, higher costs and consequences to private actors and nation state actors that continue to steal our data, that continue to spy on us.”
Last month, Rep. Jim Himes, Democrat of Connecticut and the ranking on the House Intelligence Committee, issued a similar warning.
“We’re not just going to name and shame,” he said on “Face the Nation.” “We are going to go into their networks and give as good as we got.”
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Teen victim of AI-generated “deepfake pornography” urges Congress to pass “Take It Down Act”
Anna McAdams has always kept a close eye on her 15-year-old daughter Elliston Berry’s life online. So it was hard to come to terms with what happened 15 months ago on the Monday morning after Homecoming in Aledo, Texas.
A classmate took a picture from Elliston’s Instagram, ran it through an artificial intelligence program that appeared to remove her dress and then sent around the digitally altered image on Snapchat.
“She came into our bedroom crying, just going, ‘Mom, you won’t believe what just happened,'” McAdams said.
Last year, there were more than 21,000 deepfake pornographic videos online — up more than 460% over the year prior. The manipulated content is proliferating on the internet as websites make disturbing pitches — like one service that asks, “Have someone to undress?”
“I had PSAT testing and I had volleyball games,” Elliston said. “And the last thing I need to focus and worry about is fake nudes of mine going around the school. Those images were up and floating around Snapchat for nine months.”
In San Francisco, Chief Deputy City Attorney Yvonne Mere was starting to hear stories similar to Elliston’s — which hit home.
“It could have easily been my daughter,” Mere said.
The San Francisco City Attorney’s office is now suing the owners of 16 websites that create “deepfake nudes,” where artificial intelligence is used to turn non-explicit photos of adults and children into pornography.
“This case is not about tech. It’s not about AI. It’s sexual abuse,” Mere said.
These 16 sites had 200 million visits in just the first six months of the year, according to the lawsuit.
City Attorney David Chiu says the 16 sites in the lawsuit are just the start.
“We’re aware of at least 90 of these websites. So this is a large universe and it needs to be stopped,” Chiu said.
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is co-sponsoring another angle of attack with Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klochubar. The Take It Down Act would require social media companies and websites to remove non-consensual, pornographic images created with AI.
“It puts a legal obligation on any tech platform — you must take it down and take it down immediately,” Cruz said.
The bill passed the Senate this month and is now attached to a larger government funding bill awaiting a House vote.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Snap told CBS News: “We care deeply about the safety and well-being of our community. Sharing nude images, including of minors, whether real or AI-generated, is a clear violation of our Community Guidelines. We have efficient mechanisms for reporting this kind of content, which is why we’re so disheartened to hear stories from families who felt that their concerns went unattended. We have a zero tolerance policy for such content and, as indicated in our latest transparency report, we act quickly to address it once reported.”
Elliston says she’s now focused on the present and is urging Congress to pass the bill.
“I can’t go back and redo what he did, but instead, I can prevent this from happening to other people,” Elliston said.
