David E. Sanger

So Salt Typhoon, the one that we've been discussing in the telecom system, gives the Chinese an enormous surveillance capability and a chance to monitor national security operations and whether or not we're on to Chinese spies and all that. And the earlier system they discovered, the one that got into the electric grid and the water systems, gives an ability to actually disrupt.

So Salt Typhoon, the one that we've been discussing in the telecom system, gives the Chinese an enormous surveillance capability and a chance to monitor national security operations and whether or not we're on to Chinese spies and all that. And the earlier system they discovered, the one that got into the electric grid and the water systems, gives an ability to actually disrupt.

When you add these together, you get a current surveillance capability and a prospective disruption capability. Right. That what the Chinese can do now is listen in on President-elect Trump and national security officials if they're on that open line. What they could do in the future is shut down systems.

When you add these together, you get a current surveillance capability and a prospective disruption capability. Right. That what the Chinese can do now is listen in on President-elect Trump and national security officials if they're on that open line. What they could do in the future is shut down systems.

What's the government doing about this? Well, they have begun to talk a little more publicly about these kinds of hacks and particularly about Salt Typhoon. That's what led to that warning last week that people should begin using encrypted apps. But that's a band-aid. It's not a solution, right? If you are really going to fix our telecom system,

What's the government doing about this? Well, they have begun to talk a little more publicly about these kinds of hacks and particularly about Salt Typhoon. That's what led to that warning last week that people should begin using encrypted apps. But that's a band-aid. It's not a solution, right? If you are really going to fix our telecom system,

You would either have to go shut it down and rebuild it with something more modern. Well, no one's going to do that. We need it every day. Or you're going to begin to make incremental fixes and then build a parallel system to it that you can begin to shift over to. You are going to have to go set real standards for cybersecurity.

You would either have to go shut it down and rebuild it with something more modern. Well, no one's going to do that. We need it every day. Or you're going to begin to make incremental fixes and then build a parallel system to it that you can begin to shift over to. You are going to have to go set real standards for cybersecurity.

Companies can't live in a world anymore in which it's sort of up to them how much they invest in these. Because what we've discovered about the telecom system is, on the one hand, it's a commercial system. It's owned by companies, not the government. But on the other hand, it's critical to our national security. Right. So we're trying to balance a lot of different complicated values here.

Companies can't live in a world anymore in which it's sort of up to them how much they invest in these. Because what we've discovered about the telecom system is, on the one hand, it's a commercial system. It's owned by companies, not the government. But on the other hand, it's critical to our national security. Right. So we're trying to balance a lot of different complicated values here.

One of them is keep the Chinese out of our system, for which you'd want to design something entirely new. But the other is keep the U.S. economy going and keep people communicating, which means you're kind of stuck with the system that's been pasted together over the years. Yeah.

One of them is keep the Chinese out of our system, for which you'd want to design something entirely new. But the other is keep the U.S. economy going and keep people communicating, which means you're kind of stuck with the system that's been pasted together over the years. Yeah.

So first of all, the world has changed a lot since Donald Trump left office on January 20th, 2021. Obviously, there had been hacking and issues like this during his time. But the level of the Chinese sophistication and the sophistication of others, Russia, Iran, North Korea, has gone up considerably. And we don't know how the president's planning to go handle this.

So first of all, the world has changed a lot since Donald Trump left office on January 20th, 2021. Obviously, there had been hacking and issues like this during his time. But the level of the Chinese sophistication and the sophistication of others, Russia, Iran, North Korea, has gone up considerably. And we don't know how the president's planning to go handle this.

In fact, whenever he's asked a question about China, his answer usually has to do with tariffs, as if that's going to solve our competition with the only competitor who can take us on militarily, economically, technologically, even culturally. The second big change that was going on, the biggest change since President Trump left office,

In fact, whenever he's asked a question about China, his answer usually has to do with tariffs, as if that's going to solve our competition with the only competitor who can take us on militarily, economically, technologically, even culturally. The second big change that was going on, the biggest change since President Trump left office,

is that Russia and China, two giant cyber powers, have come together in a partnership that is basically opposing the United States around the world. You've seen it, of course, first in Ukraine, but we're beginning to see it in the cyber world as well, because they want to operate by a set of rules that they define, and we want to operate by a set of global rules that we define.

is that Russia and China, two giant cyber powers, have come together in a partnership that is basically opposing the United States around the world. You've seen it, of course, first in Ukraine, but we're beginning to see it in the cyber world as well, because they want to operate by a set of rules that they define, and we want to operate by a set of global rules that we define.

And the third big change that's underway here, of course, is artificial intelligence, because that affects everything in the hacking world. You can build much better defenses to hacking using AI tools. You can also find vulnerabilities in old systems like the telecom system we've been discussing here using those tools.

And the third big change that's underway here, of course, is artificial intelligence, because that affects everything in the hacking world. You can build much better defenses to hacking using AI tools. You can also find vulnerabilities in old systems like the telecom system we've been discussing here using those tools.