Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, is pressing committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to summon top officials with Verizon Communications and AT&T to testify at a hearing about Salt Typhoon cyberattacks on their networks.
Cantwell aired her desire for a hearing – with AT&T CEO John Stankey and Verizon CEO Dan Schulman as witnesses – in a Feb. 3 letter to Cruz.
The hearing, she said, should “demand answers about the current security of their telecommunications networks after they refused to be transparent about their responses to the Salt Typhoon cyberattack.”
Spokespersons for both companies had no immediate response to MeriTalk about that transparency allegation by the senator.
“For months, I have sought specific documentation from AT&T and Verizon that would purportedly corroborate their claims that their networks are now secure from this attack,” Sen. Cantwell said.
“Unfortunately, both AT&T and Verizon have chosen not to cooperate, which raises serious questions about the extent to which Americans who use these networks remain exposed to unacceptable risk,” she said.
“Since then, expert witnesses warned this Committee about the ongoing security risks posed by Salt Typhoon, while reports indicate that Salt Typhoon hackers are likely still inside U.S. telecommunications networks and may have even breached email accounts used by congressional staff, “the senator said.
“If AT&T and Verizon are not going to provide Congress key documentation voluntarily, then I believe this Committee must promptly convene a hearing with their CEOs so they can explain why Americans should have confidence in the security of their networks amid mounting evidence that the Salt Typhoon hackers remain active and undeterred,” Cantwell told Cruz.