Sara Goudarzi
In 2023 and 2024, reporting showed the existence of two cyber espionage operations against the United States that were traced back to Chinese groups. One, referred to by Microsoft and other tech companies as “Volt Typhoon,” focused on shutting down critical American infrastructure—presumably in the wake of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The other, referred to by cyber analysts as “Salt Typhoon,” was an extremely sophisticated operation that used the country’s telecommunications networks to spy on Americans. While these incidents were by no means the first time foreign actors had gained access to US networks, the efforts were significant in their comprehensiveness and covertness.
At least one of them appeared to be part of a bigger military plan, raising crucial questions about the role of cyber operations in conflict. I spoke with David E. Sanger, White House and National Security Correspondent for The New York Times, who has reported extensively on the topic, to find out what to take away from these incidents, how cyber operations factor into the geopolitical landscape and future wars, and how the United States can best prepare for similar breaches on the horizon. Editor’s note: The resulting discussion has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Sara Goudarzi: You’ve reported on China’s recent hacking of both the United States’ utilities and communication systems. When did they occur, and what happened? David Sanger: I think one of the great under-recognized stories of what’s happened in the US-China relationship over the past two or three years is the extent and the sophistication of the cyber activity that has so shaken American policy makers.This came in two forms. The first is something known as Volt Typhoon, which was discovered by intelligence agencies during the Biden administration and really broke out into the public in 2023.
[1] This was an effort by the Chinese to get deep inside the American utility grid, pipelines, water, and gas—all the critical infrastructure. And it was discovered first in systems that were close to big American military bases: Guam, Hawaii, the West Coast of the United States. It’s not clear whether that was the original intention, but that’s where American officials were looking for it the hardest, because they understood right away what this was intended to do, which is to create a pathway into these systems so that if China needed to gum up the works, turn off the lights or the pipelines in a time of crisis—especially one over Taiwan—they could slow the American response to come to Taiwan’s aid.
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