The US government is calling on senior politicians and officials to lock down their devices as China continues to breach at least eight major telecommunications providers.
U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA said in an advisory on Wednesday that “highly targeted officials,” including government officials, will be subject to Apple's lockdown mode, which restricts iPhone functionality and limits attacks across the phone. He said you need to enable advanced security features such as: surface.
The agency also recommends authorities switch to end-to-end encrypted messaging apps like Signal. The advice comes shortly after U.S. officials urged Americans to also use encrypted messaging apps to minimize the risk of their communications being intercepted.
“Encryption is your friend. Even if an adversary were to compromise your data, it becomes unreadable,” Jeff Green, CISA's assistant administrator, said on a call with reporters Wednesday.
The agency also recommends the use of phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication and communication-level account PINs to protect against SIM swapping attacks.