This is your Tech Shield: US vs China Updates podcast.

If you thought last week was wild for US cyber defenses, buckle up, because this week has been a full-on digital thunderstorm. The Salt Typhoon saga just keeps getting bigger, with former FBI cyber official Cynthia Kaiser dropping the bombshell that it’s nearly impossible to imagine any American who wasn’t touched by that five-year Chinese state-sponsored campaign. Pete Nicoletti from Check Point put it bluntly: they had full reign access to telecom data, meaning even your grandma’s grocery reminder call wasn’t safe. The hackers, linked to Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology, Beijing Huanyu Tianqiong, and Sichuan Zhixin Ruijie, have been sanctioned by the US Treasury, but the damage is done.

Now, the feds aren’t sitting idle. FBI Director Kash Patel is leading a massive push to root out Chinese influence, with forensic teams crawling through compromised devices and interviewing anyone linked to the breach. The National Guard’s networks were hit for nine months, and critical infrastructure giants like Digital Realty and Comcast are now on the radar. The Office of the National Cyber Director is warning that China remains the most active and persistent cyber threat, targeting everything from government networks to universities.

On the defense side, the US government is tightening the screws. The FCC is threatening fines for companies that don’t beef up their defenses, and the Department of Defense has rolled out updated FedRAMP requirements, demanding 100 percent compliance with the latest security controls. The message is clear: patch your systems, monitor everything, and assume you’re already breached.

Industry is responding too. Mandiant’s Charles Carmakal says the fallout from these breaches could last months, and organizations need to prioritize patching, especially for network infrastructure. The exploitation of vulnerabilities like CVE-2023-20198 and CVE-2023-20273 shows that slow patching is a major gap. Experts are pushing for zero-trust architectures and stronger supply chain security.

But here’s the kicker: even with all these measures, the threat is evolving. The Salt Typhoon campaign is part of China’s broader 100-Year Strategy, blending intelligence gathering with long-term strategic goals. The US is fighting back with sanctions and regulatory pressure, but the challenge of attribution and deterrence remains. As Terry Dunlap from the NSA puts it, this is the new normal in cyber warfare—persistent, patient, and comprehensive.

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