A Chinese hacking group has compromised the email accounts of staff members of powerful committees in the US House of Representatives, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The group, nicknamed Salt Typhoon, accessed email systems used by some staffers on the House China committee and by aides on panels covering foreign affairs, intelligence, and the armed services, the report said. It did not identify which specific staffers were targeted.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Chinese Embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu condemned what he called "unfounded speculation and accusations," while the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment. The White House and the offices of the four committees reportedly targeted in the surveillance sweep did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The FT cited a person familiar with the campaign as saying it was unclear whether the attackers had accessed lawmakers' emails in the intrusions, which were detected in December.
US lawmakers and their aides, especially those who oversee America's sprawling military and intelligence agencies, have long been top targets for cyberespionage, and reports of hacks or attempted hacks have surfaced periodically.
In November, the Senate Sergeant at Arms notified multiple congressional offices of a "cyber incident" in which hackers may have accessed communications between the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which provides key financial research data to lawmakers, and some Senate offices.
Salt Typhoon a long-time thorn in the side of US intelligence
The Salt Typhoon hackers, in particular, have long rattled the US intelligence community. The spies - alleged to be working for Chinese intelligence - stand accused of gathering data on wide swathes of Americans' telephone communications and intercepted conversations, including those between prominent US politicians and government officials.
In December 2024, a top US security agency confirmed that foreign actors "state-sponsored by the People's Republic of China" compromised systems and exposed vulnerabilities across at least eight US communications companies, according to an FCC factsheet.
In August 2025, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released an advisory on countering Chinese state-sponsored hackers, writing, "a recent breach of US telecommunications infrastructure by Chinese actors underscores the growing scope and sophistication of China's cyber capabilities."
China was also named "the most active and persistent cyber threat to US government, private-sector, and critical infrastructure networks" in the 2025 Annual Threat Assessment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Despite action taken to secure US networks, a recent vote to roll back cybersecurity regulations has raised concerns within the Senate.
The Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and co-founder of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, US Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA), warned in November that "the Salt Typhoon intrusion made clear that existing voluntary measures alone have not been sufficient to prevent sophisticated, state-sponsored actors from gaining long-term, covert access to critical networks."
"Congress, the administration, and the FCC should be moving toward greater transparency and stronger protections, not less," he added.
Beijing has repeatedly denied being behind the spying.