The Trump administration’s cybersecurity policy has drawn intense criticism, especially in the aftermath of the Salt Typhoon incident, which saw Chinese hackers infiltrate major U.S. telecom operators like AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen in a campaign confirmed to begin as early as June 2024. This breach, labeled the worst telecommunications hack in U.S. history, exposed confidential government data and call records of numerous high-profile individuals, including then President Donald Trump. Rather than bolstering regulatory oversight in response, the administration has dismantled key cybersecurity bodies, such as the Cyber Safety Review Board and fired experts at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, undermining U.S. defensive capabilities just as threats intensified. In October 2025, the Federal Communications Commission moved to eliminate telecom cybersecurity rules enacted after the hacks, prioritizing industry flexibility over mandated protections and drawing parallels to actions that benefit foreign adversaries more than national security. This pattern of deregulation and agency downsizing has left the American cyber infrastructure vulnerable, amplifying calls in India and abroad for robust oversight and global cooperation to secure critical network assets amid a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape.