New legislation aims to plug Salt Typhoon hacksNew legislation aims to plug Salt Typhoon hacks

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released a draft bill to secure U.S. phone and wireless networks, following the massive breach of the American telecommunications system by Chinese-government hackers.

Wyden's Secure American Communications Act requires the Federal Communications Commission to fix its own failure to fully implement telecom security requirements already required by federal law. In 1994, Congress required telecom providers to design their systems to permit the government to obtain communications and call-identifying information with a court order or other lawful authorization. That law required providers to secure their systems from unauthorized interceptions, and gave the FCC the authority to issue regulations to implement this requirement. However, in the years since, the FCC has never fully implemented this provision.

Donald Trump, JD Vance and a host of other high-ranking officials were reportedly targeted as part of the hacking campaign. Call records, real-time phone calls and personal communications were all reportedly accessed as part of the hack.

The Secure American Communications Act is one of three proposals Wyden has released to shore up vulnerable American communications networks. Earlier this year, Wyden released legislation requiring the government to adopt secure communications software, which would have shielded officials' texts and calls despite the phone network breach. He has also proposed bipartisan legislation to block the export of Americans' personal information to unfriendly nations, making it more difficult for foreign spies to target Americans for hacking and spying.

Read the full press release here.