Data breaches have hit millions of Americans this year, but it is often unclear who is behind these hacks and what they are doing with the sensitive information they access.

Recently, Chinese hackers have been blamed for a surge in cyberattacks in the U.S. targeting everything from corporate and government systems to infrastructure.

This week, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a joint statement (via TechSpot) confirming that Chinese hackers were behind several breaches of US telecommunications providers. However, they also compromised wiretap systems used by law enforcement for surveillance.

In a statement, officials described the cyberattack campaign as “widespread and significant,” but also linked the breaches to a group called “Salt Typhoon,” which they said was backed by the People's Republic of China.

The group allegedly infiltrated several telecommunications providers. The statement did not name specific companies, but the Wall Street Journal reported that AT&T and Verizon were among the affected providers.

Apparently, the group had “carte blanche” access to the network system, but U.S. officials have said that the compromised data was only taken from select individuals, primarily government officials and political operatives.

One of them may have been Senator JD Vance, who told podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan in a recent interview that he was targeted by Salt Typhoon. He claimed that the group had only received “some offensive memes” and e-mails to his wife.

In a statement, the FBI and CISA said they would assist affected organizations and companies and “continue to provide technical assistance, share information quickly to assist other potential victims, and work to strengthen cyber defenses across the commercial communications sector.”

Hackers are said to have copied information about law enforcement requests and wiretaps, which could hinder ongoing investigations.

The hacking group, backed by Salt Typhoon and other typhoon-like states, did not access all Americans' data in the provider's system, the agency said, but that does not mean they did not take data that could later be used in other attacks.

Regardless of whether data was stolen, you should never rush when checking your inbox. Scammers often instill a sense of urgency in their emails to stress you out and motivate you to follow their instructions. You should remain calm and cautious when handling messages in your inbox and always be on the lookout for phishing emails and other suspicious emails.

Hackers often impersonate well-known brands by spoofing corporate email addresses. Watch for red flags such as misspellings and poor grammar, and double-check that the sender's email address and phone number are correct; if you're not 100% sure, you can never be too cautious.

To protect your computer from malware and other viruses that can be transmitted by opening phishing emails, it is important to install and use the best antivirus software for your PC, Mac antivirus software for your Mac, and Android antivirus It is important to install and use apps.