Wyden Places Hold on Top Cybersecurity Nominee to Force Release of Important Details on Security Threats to US Phone Networks
CISA Has Ignored Multiple Requests to Release Vital Information; Following China’s Salt Typhoon Hack of US Networks, Americans Deserve To See Unclassified Report
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today placed a hold on the nomination of Sean Plankey to serve as director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), to force the release of an unclassified report containing important details about U.S. telephone network security.
Federal inaction on telephone network security has enabled foreign governments to repeatedly spy on Americans, threatening U.S. national security. Most notably the 2024 hack of several U.S. communications companies, including Verizon and AT&T, by a Chinese hacker group dubbed Salt Typhoon, which tapped the calls of President Trump, Vice President Vance, and scores of other federal officials, tracked the locations of millions of Americans, and reportedly stole phone call records about a vast number of Americans.
“CISA’s multi-year cover up of the phone companies’ negligent cybersecurity has real consequences,” Wyden wrote, citing the Salt Typhoon hack in a statement announcing the hold. “This espionage incident, and the harm to U.S. national security caused by it, were the direct result of U.S. phone carriers’ failure to follow cybersecurity best practices, such as installing security updates and using multi-factor authentication, and federal agencies failing to hold these companies accountable.”
Wyden argued that increased transparency about U.S. telephone network security will increase pressure on the government and phone companies to take action.
“The federal government still does not require U.S. phone companies to meet minimum cybersecurity standards,” Wyden wrote. “While it is too late to prevent the Salt Typhoon hack, there is still time to prevent the next incident.”
Wyden has repeatedly asked CISA to release the unclassified report, titled “U.S. Telecommunications Insecurity 2022,” but was stonewalled by the agency.
A Senate hold blocks unanimous consent to speed up consideration of a nomination, and forces the body to spend time debating and voting on the nominee. In 2018 the Department of Homeland Security released details about cell phone surveillance devices, known as cell-site simulators or Stingrays, that had been detected near sensitive locations in and around Washington, D.C., after Wyden placed a hold on a DHS nominee.
Read the full hold statement here.
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