US official fighting Chinese telecom intrusions urges more encryption

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency official Jeff Greene said Americans should know that “encryption is your friend.”

A senior U.S. official who is among those working to evict alleged Chinese hackers from American telecom companies has a word of advice for his fellow Americans:

Use encryption.

During a call with reporters on Tuesday, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency official Jeff Greene said Americans should know that "encryption is your friend" and that "our advice is to avoid using plaintext."

Although it is not the first time a senior American official has endorsed encryption, a data-scrambling technique that helps protect communications from snoopers, it is a stark break with previous government messaging.

Only a few years ago, FBI Director Chris Wray described strong encryption as "an urgent public safety issue" amid a push by law enforcement officials to mandate that tech companies water down the protections around digital communications.

Greene's call with journalists was held as the government issued guidance for combating allegedly Chinese intrusions into U.S. telecoms.

Washington has voiced increasing concern over Beijing's alleged efforts to burrow deep into U.S. telecommunications companies, including T-Mobile, and steal data about U.S. calls.