Your Smart Phone is now the battleground as China seeks cyber dominance

We already knew that a weaponized Deep State Blob was jumping over the Constitutional guardrails to monitor Americans. Whether it was the State Department’s Global Engagement Center or Big Finance giddily handing over MAGA customer information without a court order, the Deep State has waded through Americans’ smartphones and social media at will to categorize, target, and silence Americans. This behavior is shameful, and after January 20, 2025, hopefully, investigations will be announced for at least the worst of the worst of the Deep State Offenders.

Because of this unlawful behavior, the $106 billion per year spent on the National Intelligence Program, the “Black Budget,” has been squandered. China has taken advantage of the U.S. Government’s unconstitutional behavior by shimming its way into the entire U.S. Telecommunications Sector. China has seized the cyber high ground by dominating the network architecture of the Internet Service Providers. While the Federal Intelligence and Law Enforcement communities should have been securing cyberspace from China and other totalitarian regimes, it appears China has the jump on the U.S. Government and is, in some ways, shoving American Government spies out of their advantageous hiding positions and taking over. The term every American should be familiar with is “Salt Typhoon”, the name given to the ongoing, Chinese Cyber rampage, that appears to be overwhelming the American Government cyber efforts.

Indications that China’s Salt Typhoon cyber assault is overwhelming the U.S. Government

If you think your smartphone is burning hot, working slowly, or your text inbox is being barraged by the “Hey, I found your number on my cell phone, please remind me where we met” and similar text messages, you are not alone. Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division said, “Threat actors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have targeted commercial telecommunications providers to compromise sensitive data and engage in cyber espionage.”  In addition, Vorndran said, “Together with our interagency partners, the FBI issued guidance to enhance the visibility of network defenders and to harden devices against PRC exploitation. We strongly encourage organizations to review and implement the recommended measures in this guide and to report suspicious activity to their local FBI field office.”

The U.S. Government says Salt Typhoon is “ongoing and likely larger in scale than previously understood.”  This expression needs a little bit of translation using the Deep State Decoder Ring. This possibly means that the velocity of the Chinese cyber operation is outpacing U.S. Government countermeasures. When the U.S. Government tells employees to not even talk unclassified information on their Government cell phones, that’s called an intelligence indicator that things are going south, fast. Another screaming flag is the guidance for Apple customers to stop texting or calling Android users. The message is clear: the Chinese have seized the interface bridge between the two environments. I can hardly wait for DHS CISA to issue guidance for U.S. Government employees to drop their phones and report to the roof of the closest data center in Northern Virginia to be evacuated by helicopter. 

DHS CISA is a bountiful harvest opportunity for DOGE

Part of the investigations to light off on January 20, 2025, is one to look into soon to be outgoing DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly for dereliction of duty. There is shared culpability, but DHS CISA is the most responsible for the unchecked Chinese actions. While U.S. Government personnel were spying on Americans from their covert observation posts, the Chinese Ministry of State Security was setting up right behind and above them. Like the U.S. Military, a “plucking” must occur of all Government Civilians who were part of the unlawful spying on American Citizens. Easterly (and Blinken at State Department) seemed to have spent more time on their music sessions on social media than defending American cyberspace from the Chinese onslaught.

Simultaneous to this, Elon and Vivek should parachute into DHS CISA and fire up the efficiency woodchipper. DHS CISA is supposed to be the lead Government Agency in dealing with Salt Typhoon, but they have failed. DHS CISA’s budget has ballooned to a $3 Billion Dollar request in the FY 2025 President’s Budget. That is over and above the IC Annual Budget of around $106 Billion. DHS CISA had just under $6 Billion in 2023 and 2024 to prepare. While criminal investigations are initiated, Elon and Vivek can likely come up with a cybersecurity program for America that is far more effective against China at a far lower cost.

Inflicting cost asymmetrically is the only way to subdue the Chinese Cyber Blitz

The challenge with the cyber experts is that they often only think in one domain:  cyber. The answer in a problem set in one domain often exists in another domain. A significant amount of success in cybersecurity against malign PRC Cyber operations (which also oversees Russian, Iranian, North Korean, and Venezuelan cyber mischief) is deterrence and likelihood of cost and punishment against China for Salt Typhoon. The Biden Administration has been timid in dealing with China; the punch back has been nominal from the Biden Team. This lack of cost encourages Chinese adventurism in Cyber.

Dr. Peter Navarro is the singular wrecking machine to be unleashed on China. President-Elect Trump has already tapped Dr. Navarro as part of his core team. As penalty for their malfeasance, the Chinese Communist Party must be hit where it hurts, the finance domain. The CCP must be rooted out of their hide positions in the capital markets. The flow of dollars is what keeps the CCP alive. Lack of financial penalty emboldens the Chinese Communists. Fortunately, January 20, 2025, is almost here. As grotesque as Biden’s pardon campaign is, it is unlikely he’ll be able to insert a pardon for China’s Salt Typhoon Campaign.

All viewpoints are personal and do not reflect the viewpoints of any organization.

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