Tag Archives: Mark Warner

Recent Chinese cyberattack compromised major telecommunication networks; highlight U.S. inability to defend itself

Important Takeaways:

  • A cyberattack perpetrated by Chinese state-backed actors and revealed in October was one of the largest and most significant in U.S. history, according to the top Senate intelligence leader.
  • Mark Warner (D-Va.), who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, told The Epoch Times that the hack conducted by the Salt Typhoon threat group was “unprecedented in its size and scope.”
  • “I think it will go down as maybe one of the most significant cyberattacks we’ve faced in our country,” Warner said on Nov. 4.
  • Salt Typhoon’s cyberattack is believed to have compromised numerous major telecommunications networks, including those of AT&T, CenturyLink, and Verizon. The attack targeted companies and individuals, including former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
  • Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), said during an episode of the “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast on Oct. 31 that his phone was compromised by the attack.
  • …the attack was long ongoing and appeared to be conducted for espionage purposes, raising questions about the risk posed by the United States’ lax cybersecurity standards for telecommunications infrastructure.
  • The breach is just one part of the Chinese communist regime’s sweeping effort to infiltrate and destabilize U.S. systems and evidence that the United States is failing to defend its systems from foreign interference.

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US Intel officials worry over AI threat to elections; or maybe they’re just worried it would tell you the truth

Mark-Warner-D-Va.-chairman-of-the-Senate-Intelligence-Committee

Important Takeaways:

  • New technologies an ‘accelerant’ for hostile efforts to manipulate voters
  • U.S. intelligence officials are sounding the alarm about foreign adversaries’ use of artificial intelligence to manipulate Americans and say new AI technologies are proving an “accelerant” as foreign powers plot to trick voters.
  • China, Iran and Russia are all looking to leverage social media to dupe Americans ahead of November’s elections, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
  • “AI is a malign influence accelerant, it is being used to more quickly and convincingly tailor synthetic content, including audio and video,” a DNI official said. “In the run-up to November’s general election, we are monitoring foreign actors seeking to create deepfakes of politicians, flood the information space with false or misleading information to sow doubt about what is real, and to amplify narratives.”
  • The U.S. intelligence community says China is likely responsible for pushing dozens of videos that spread online showing AI-generated newscasters reading sections of a book outlining purported scandals about Taiwan’s former president. The book itself may also have been created by AI, according to U.S. officials.

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