WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration will consider ways to impose higher costs on private actors and U.S. adversaries who launch cyberattacks on America, Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump's pick for national security adviser, said on Sunday.
These comments come after American allegations of a large-scale Chinese electronic espionage campaign known as “Salt Typhoon” that targeted and recorded phone calls of prominent American political figures.
The White House said that at least eight telecommunications and infrastructure companies in the United States were affected, and a large number of Americans' identifying data were stolen in the comprehensive cyber espionage campaign.
Waltz did not say what the Trump administration would do in response to Hurricane Salt, but spoke generally about the incoming administration's approach. He said Washington has long focused mostly on strengthening its cyber defenses.
“We need to start going on the offensive and start imposing higher costs and consequences, I think, on the private actors and nation states that continue to steal our data, that continue to spy on us,” Waltz told CBS News. Nation.
He also said that America's own technology industry could also be useful in making adversaries vulnerable as well as aiding American defense.
Chinese officials had previously described the allegations as disinformation, and said Beijing “firmly opposes and combats cyberattacks and cybertheft in all forms.”
