USA25 June, 20263 min read
US Intelligence Agencies Warn Spain About Chinese Espionage Linked To Salt Typhoon
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US intelligence agencies, with Spain's CNI, warn of Chinese espionage linked to Huawei contract. Investigation concerns Huawei contract to store secret data for Spain's judiciary.
Cyber advisory and Huawei
US intelligence agencies, together with Spain’s National Intelligence Center (CNI) and other allies, warned Spain and other partners about the risk of Chinese espionage in a classified Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) issued on August 27. The warning came within an American intelligence investigation into the Huawei contract to store secret data for Spain’s judiciary, with the Spanish National Intelligence Center (CNI) signing the CSA alongside the United States, the United Kingdom, and eleven other countries. The document, distributed among allied governments and provided to ABC by U.S. officials, says the malicious activities date back to at least 2021 and aim to secure persistent access to sensitive systems to exfiltrate data and compromise the national security of affected states.
ABC reports that the CSA directly identifies three Chinese companies as responsible for these operations: Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology, Beijing Huanyu Tianqiong Information Technology, and Sichuan Zhixin Ruijie Network Technology. ABC also says the FBI and the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) link these attacks to the group known as Salt Typhoon, previously attributed to China in earlier operations.
CISA ChatGPT incident
In a separate thread of US cybersecurity turmoil, BFM says the US cybersecurity agency is in an unprecedented period of turbulence, weakened by repeated budget cuts and a government shutdown that directly affected the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). BFM reports that Politico said Madhu Gottumukkala, the acting director of CISA, accidentally downloaded sensitive documents last summer onto a public version of ChatGPT, triggering automated cybersecurity alerts designed to prevent the theft or inadvertent disclosure of government data. BFM adds that the downloaded documents were not classified but were marked 'For Official Use Only', and that the incident occurred while access to ChatGPT was blocked for most Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees.
BFM says Gottumukkala had obtained a special waiver from the agency’s Chief Information Officer to use the tool, authorizing him to upload internal files there. BFM also quotes Gottumukkala appearing before the House saying that CISA was 'getting back to its mission,' while Republican Tony Gonzales criticized his inability to estimate the volume of cyberattacks expected during the 2026 midterm elections.
Secret Service phone security
CNN reports that bad cybersecurity practices from Secret Service agents left their phones vulnerable to hacking and risked the lives of senior US officials they are charged with protecting, according to a new inspector general report. CNN says the Department of Homeland Security inspector general (IG) warned that foreign “adversaries” “could have intercepted and exploited Secret Service information, placing at risk our Nation’s leaders, other protectees, and employees,” in a report released Thursday. CNN adds that the IG report found Secret Service employes frequently used their less-secure personal phones rather than their government phones while on protective missions.
CNN also says the probe found the Secret Service was failing to wipe employees’ phones after returning from international travel, and that the agency didn’t have a policy for testing software before it was deployed on employees’ phones. CNN quotes Secret Service Director Sean Curran saying the agency had made “several comprehensive enhancements to Secret Service communications policies and protocols” to mitigate interception and exploitation of Secret Service information.