US government urges high-ranking officials to lock down mobile devices following telecom breaches

The U.S. government is urging senior politicians and high-ranking officials to lock down their devices amid the ongoing Chinese breaches of at least eight major telecom providers.

In an advisory on Wednesday, U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA said that “highly-targeted officials,” including those in government, should enable advanced security features, such as Apple’s Lockdown Mode, which limits ​​the functionality of iPhones to limit the phone’s overall attack surface.

The agency also recommends that officials switch to end-to-end encrypted messaging apps, like Signal. This advice comes soon after U.S. officials urged Americans to also use encrypted messaging apps to minimize the risk of having their communications intercepted.

“Encryption is your friend — it makes your data unreadable, even if the adversary were to compromise it,” CISA executive assistant director Jeff Greene said on a call with reporters on Wednesday. 

The agency also recommends the use of phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication and telecom-level account PINs to protect against SIM-swapping attacks.