‘Salt Typhoon’: China hacks emails of US congressional staff in major cyber-espionage case

China has hacked the email accounts used by congressional staff working for key committees in the US House of Representatives, in what officials describe as a wide-ranging cyber-espionage operation dubbed 'Salt Typhoon'.

According to people familiar with the attack, Chinese intelligence gained access to email systems used by staffers on the House China Committee, as well as aides linked to the Foreign Affairs Committee, Intelligence Committee, and Armed Services Committee. The intruders were discovered in December.

The incident is part of a broader, ongoing cyber campaign targeting US communications networks that is attributed to China’s Ministry of State Security. However, sources said it remains unclear whether the hackers were able to access the personal email accounts of lawmakers themselves, according to a report by The Financial Times.

MSS operates Salt Typhoon

Salt Typhoon has been operated by the MSS for several years, which allows China to access the unencrypted phone calls, texts and voicemails of almost every American. Additionally, it also enables access to email accounts in certain cases. The source also indicated that Salt Typhoon has also intercepted the calls of senior US officials for several years.

Former President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, stated that last year, after leaving the White House that US telecom companies were “highly vulnerable” to Salt Typhoon. It is one of many cyber espionage efforts by the People’s Liberation Army and Chinese intelligence that target US infrastructure.

The FBI and other US agencies said in 2024 that a state-sponsored hacking group of China that has been dubbed Volt Typhoon had entered into the US energy, transportation and communications systems to help them in the case of a conflict with America.