US government urges high-ranking officials to shut down mobile devices after telecom breaches

The US government is urging top politicians and high-ranking officials to shut down their devices amid ongoing Chinese breaches of at least eight major telecom companies.

in Consultation on Wednesdaythe US cybersecurity agency CISA said that “highly targeted administrators,” including government officials, should enable advanced security features, such as Apple lock modewhich limits the functionality of iPhone hardware to reduce the phone’s overall attack surface.

The agency also recommends that administrators turn to end-to-end encrypted messaging apps, such as Signal. This advice comes shortly after US officials He urged the Americans To also use encrypted messaging apps to reduce the risk of their communications being intercepted.

“Encryption is your friend — it makes your data unreadable, even if an adversary hacks it,” Jeff Green, assistant executive director of CISA, said on a call with reporters on Wednesday.

The agency also recommends using phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication Account PINs at the communications level To protect against SIM swap attacks.