Sen. Marco Rubio says Chinese hacking of U.S. telecom companies is a “very serious situation that we face”

Sen. Marco Rubio, who is on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that as “time goes on, we’re going to learn more” about Chinese hacking of U.S. telecom companies, calling it a “very serious situation that we face.”

In October federal authorities launched an investigation into a cyberattack linked to China-backed hackers that targeted major U.S. telecommunications companies and systems used for key government intelligence collection capabilities, a U.S. official familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News at the time. The hacking group known as “Salt Typhoon” hit numerous companies including Verizon, AT&T and Lumen Technologies. 

According to the official, the Chinese hackers breached systems used by U.S. intelligence to conduct wiretaps, and both government agencies and the affected private companies are trying to ascertain what information, if any, the malign actors were able to collect. It’s not yet clear whether China accessed the audio of Americans phone calls, but Rubio agreed on Sunday with Senate Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner’s assessment of the breach being “one of the biggest breaches potentially ever.”

“Well, I’m not going to comment on what they access, but I agree with Mark Warner’s statement. It is an egregious, outrageous and dangerous breach of our telecommunications systems across multiple companies,” Rubio said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan. “I think as time goes on, we’re going to learn more about it. Some of it will be made public. I think there’s more that’s still being gathered.”

Rubio noted that although this breach does not appear to directly affect the integrity of the U.S. presidential election, it is cause for wider concern of national security going forward. 

“It’s a very serious situation that we face. And I think one that is quite threatening, maybe not directly to the election per se, but certainly to the national security of our country moving forward,” Rubio said on “Face the Nation.” “It’s a vulnerability that no one imagined or anticipated, but here it is.”

While this specific breach is not currently believed to threaten the presidential election, it is not to say that foreign efforts in election interference, including that of China, have been scarce. 

In late October, Microsoft issued a seven-page report on how Russia, Iran and China are trying to interfere with the 2024 U.S. elections, warning U.S. voters of deepfake videos and other tactics being implemented to target political candidates.

Rubio, who is not up for reelection until 2028, was one of the targets of the Chinese-linked influence efforts. Microsoft noted they have observed Chinese influence operations targeting  Rubio intermittently since the lead up to the 2022 midterm elections. Despite this report highlighting the security threat of foreign adversaries, Rubio said Sunday that he remains assured in the security of U.S. elections.

“Well, I’m confident in the security and integrity of the elections, and especially because we have strong systems across this country. It’s spread across 50 states,” Rubio said. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be problems.”