Salt Typhoon Hackers Hit Congressional Emails in New Breach

Staff Working on China, Intel, Military Oversight Targeted in Espionage Operation Chris Riotta (@chrisriotta) • January 9, 2026

U.S. officials are investigating a suspected Chinese cyber espionage operation compromising email systems used by congressional staff working on House national security committees.

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The activity, detected in December, appears to have originated from the threat actor commonly tracked as Salt Typhoon, according to researchers tracking the operation. It appears to have affected staff supporting committees with oversight of China policy, foreign affairs, intelligence and the military (see: Chinese Data Leak Reveals Salt Typhoon Contractors).

There is currently no public indication that lawmakers' own accounts were accessed, but the targeting of staff networks is raising new concerns about how foreign adversaries may have extracted strategic insights from systems handling sensitive data.

The newly-reported activity follows months of ...