In classified settings, lawmakers have often asked national security officials why American cyber forces don’t go on the attack more often, one senator said.

The United States must do more to address hacking threats after China's alleged efforts known as Salt Typhoon to infiltrate American telecommunications companies and steal data about U.S. calls, senators said at a hearing Wednesday.

Though commonly referred to as Salt Typhoon, the group has also been dubbed GhostEmperor, FamousSparrow, Earth Estries, and UNC2286. The name "Salt Typhoon" was given to it by Microsoft, which uses "Typhoon" to label all nation-state threat actors from China.

The Secure American Communications Act aims to beef up US telecoms' network security against unauthorized access.

U.S. government agencies will hold a classified briefing for the House of Representatives on Tuesday on China's alleged efforts known as Salt Typhoon to infiltrate American telecommunications companies and steal data about U.

Officials say a Chinese hacking group dubbed Salt Typhoon compromised at least eight of America’s telecoms networks. The intruders stole the call-record metadata of a “large number” of Americans. They gained access to the wiretap requests of security agencies—meaning they could work out if any Chinese spies or agents were under American surveillance.

The FBI is still touting the debunked idea that its agents could access communications without opening a door to foreign hackers.