US telecoms carriers would be required to implement minimum cyber security standards and ensure their systems are not susceptible to hacks by nation-s

Blocking Chinese spies from intercepting calls? There ought to be a law

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2024-12-12 02:30:05

US telecoms carriers would be required to implement minimum cyber security standards and ensure their systems are not susceptible to hacks by nation-state attackers – like Salt Typhoon – under legislation proposed by senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The Secure American Communications Act [PDF], if signed into law, would require the Federal Communications Commission to issue binding rules for telecom systems, following what Wyden calls the FCC's "failure" to implement security standards already required by federal law.

He's referring to the CALEA of 1994 – aka the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act – which required telecom providers to design their systems to comply with wiretapping requests from law enforcement.

The law also requires providers to secure their own systems against unauthorized interception – such as Chinese spies, who we recently learned did access these systems to steal communications and other sensitive information. While the feds haven't disclosed whose calls and texts were accessed by Salt Typhoon, the victims reportedly included president-elect Donald Trump and his VP pick JD Vance, people working for current VP Kamala Harris's presidential campaign, and other high-ranking political figures.

"It was inevitable that foreign hackers would burrow deep into the American communications system the moment the FCC decided to let phone companies write their own cyber security rules," Wyden asserted in a statement.