{"id":6504,"date":"2024-12-04T16:44:54","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T22:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/endpoint-security\/wyden-and-schmitt-call-for-investigation-of-the-pentagon-s-failure-to-secure-its-phone-systems-against-foreign-spies"},"modified":"2024-12-04T16:44:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T22:44:54","slug":"wyden-and-schmitt-call-for-investigation-of-pentagons-phone-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/12\/04\/wyden-and-schmitt-call-for-investigation-of-pentagons-phone-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"Wyden and Schmitt Call for Investigation of Pentagon’s Phone Systems"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PRESS RELEASE<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Washington, D.C.<\/span><\/span> \u2013 U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senator Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., called for the Defense Department\u2019s top watchdog to investigate the Pentagon\u2019s failure to secure its communications from foreign spies, following the devastating \u201cSalt Typhoon\u201d hack of major telecom companies by Chinese government hackers.  <\/span><\/p>\n

In a letter to Department of Defense Inspector General Robert Storch, Wyden and Schmitt highlighted the DOD\u2019s failure to secure its communications from foreign spies. The senators revealed that DOD informed Congress that it signed a major contract this year, worth up to $2.7 billion, for wireless phone services for U.S. military personnel, even though DOD knew that the phone companies\u2019 networks were vulnerable to foreign surveillance. <\/span><\/p>\n

Last month, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency confirmed hackers working for the Chinese government breached multiple telecommunications companies and targeted call information for President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect Vance and Senate Majority Leader Schumer, among other high-profile targets.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDOD\u2019s failure to secure its unclassified voice, video, and text communications with end-to-end encryption technology has left it needlessly vulnerable to foreign espionage. Moreover, although DOD is among the largest buyers of wireless telephone service in the United States, it has failed to use its purchasing power to require cyber defenses and accountability from wireless carriers,\u201d Wyden and Schmitt wrote. \u201cWe urge you to investigate DOD\u2019s failure to secure its communications, and to recommend the changes in policy necessary to protect DOD communications from foreign adversaries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wyden and Schmitt revealed multiple concerning new details about DOD\u2019s inability and unwillingness to protect soldiers and civilian employees who rely on wireless phone networks, in their letter today: <\/span><\/p>\n

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