WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Lawmakers debated how best to combat and prepare for the next cyberattack from foreign adversaries during a Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media hearing Tuesday.
The hearing came after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr rolled back Biden administration cybersecurity regulations on telecommunications companies in November that were created in the wake of the Salt Typhoon cyberattack last year.
Salt Typhoon is a group linked to the Chinese government whose goal is to hack into American networks and steal personal and classified data. The group led a yearslong campaign to hack American telecommunications companies and steal data from prominent officials, including from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, during the 2024 presidential campaign for counterintelligence purposes.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., called out the FCC and Trump for removing regulations and signing an executive order in January that dismantled the Cyber Safety Review Board, which was created under former President Joe Biden. The board investigated the Salt Typhoon attacks until it was dismantled earlier this year.
"There's still a lot we don't know about the damage done by the Salt Typhoon attacks. In fact, President Trump fired the board that was investigating the attack," Luján said.
