Rep. Eric Swalwell offers a cyber tip to avoid being successfully targeted by 'state actors'

Doug P. | 5:34 PM on March 10, 2022

Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell has provided some tech advice about how to avoid being a cyber victim. You might want to put down your drink before proceeding. Ready? Ok, here we go:

Cyber tip of day: turn off/turn on your phone every day. If someone/state actor is on your device (or trying to get on) this disrupts their attack, effectively causing them to start over.

h/t @C_C_Krebs (did this BA kid get that right?)

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) March 10, 2022

Dana Loesch opens things up with a great question:

Did you learn this from your time with Fang Fang? https://t.co/E6OIdRJrwj

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) March 10, 2022

Hey, maybe at least something positive came out of that, er… friendship.

Did Fang Fang teach you that?

— James Baker (@JDtheDJ2004) March 10, 2022

He should know. https://t.co/nIDJyE11Ac

— Kris Kinder (@kris_kinder) March 10, 2022

Right?

don't you have to have your phone to do that? Did Fang fang give yours back?

— Sean Colvin ن (@SeanColvin) March 10, 2022

They don’t care if your phone is off

All they had to do was turn you on, Eric. #FangFang

— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) March 10, 2022

In late 2020, Axios was among media outlets reporting about Swalwell and the suspected Chinese spy:

Among the most significant targets of Fang’s efforts was Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).

Fang took part in fundraising activity for Swalwell’s 2014 re-election campaign, according to a Bay Area political operative and a current U.S. intelligence official. Swalwell’s office was directly aware of these activities on its behalf, the political operative said. That same political operative, who witnessed Fang fundraising on Swalwell’s behalf, found no evidence of illegal contributions.

Federal Election Commission records don’t indicate Fang herself made donations, which are prohibited from foreign nationals.
Fang helped place at least one intern in Swalwell’s office, according to those same two people, and interacted with Swalwell at multiple events over the course of several years.