Washington, DC - The Biden administration convened an emergency response team after a major Chinese cyberattack saw critical security infrastructure breached.

In response to an investigation from Wall Street Journal, which last week revealed that at least three major telecommunications companies had been breached by Chinese hackers, the White House set up a meting featuring secretaries from key agencies.

Chinese hackers linked with Beijing reportedly breached Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies and gained access to not only the information of private citizens, but network infrastructure used by US authorities to conduct court-authorized wiretapping.

Top of the agenda, per the Washington Post, was how the hackers had managed to breach US systems in the first place, as a clear entry point has yet to be established.

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"It’s a sophisticated actor, and you need sophisticated ways to do that," one source was quoted by the Post as saying. "The offense is better than the defense... It looks to be a widespread intelligence operation."

While it's expected that the breach can be attributed to the Salt Typhoon hacking group that breached Microsoft Exchange servers in 2021, identifying the hackers will be a significant part of the newly-formed working group's investigation.

Seeking additional clarification from the companies that were targeted, the leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Community Party on Thursday wrote to executives seeking a closed-door meeting.

"The implications of any breach of this nature would be difficult to overstate," the Select Committee wrote. "We recognize that enhancing our nation’s cybersecurity is a challenge that neither the public nor private sectors can tackle alone."

"We respectfully request a closed-door briefing from appropriate representatives of each of your companies regarding the reported Salt Typhoon breach."