Chinese hackers: Chinese hackers are said to have attacked phones used by Trump and Vance

chinese hackers targeted phone data used by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, as part of what appears to be a wide-ranging intelligence-gathering effort, people familiar with the matter said Friday.

Investigators are working to determine what communications data, if any, was taken or observed by the sophisticated penetration of telecommunications systems, according to these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe active and highly sensitive activity. national security case.

The type of information on the phones used by a presidential candidate and his running mate could be a gold mine for an intelligence agency: who they called and texted, how often they communicated with certain people and for how long. spoke to those people, they could be very important. valuable to an adversary like China. That kind of communications data could be even more useful if hackers could observe it in real time.

He victory campaign The team learned this week that Trump and Vance were among several people inside and outside the government whose phone numbers had been hacked through hacking. Verizon Phone Systemsofficials said.

People briefed on the matter said Democrats were among those targeted, including members of the vice president’s staff. Kamala Harris‘ campaign and prominent figures on Capitol Hill, including Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader.


The attack on a presidential candidate’s communications underscores the aggressiveness, scope and potential severity of the hacking attack, which Western cybersecurity experts believe was carried out by a group they called Salt Typhoon. The investigation continues, but the FBI and national security officials have signaled that they are deeply concerned about the potential scope of the compromised data and the wide range of potential victims.

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Without identifying the targets, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a joint statement attributing the hack to “actors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China.” The agencies said they “are collaborating to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defenses across the business communications sector.” They said they had informed potential victims.

It was unclear whether hackers could have gained access to text messages, especially those sent over unencrypted channels.

Trump campaign officials were told that the hackers could still be inside Verizon systems, but that it was unclear if they were actively trying to extract data. In hacking investigations, observing hackers’ activities within a compromised system can sometimes provide valuable information to investigators.

Data on a presidential and vice presidential candidate’s communications — even without the content of calls and messages — could also help an adversary like China better identify and target people in Trump’s inner circle for influence operations.

The revelation came in the final stages of a campaign in which Trump’s team has also been targeted by Iranian hackers, who have repeatedly sent his inner circle phishing emails that managed, at least in part, to gain access to your campaign communications and documents.

Security around Trump has also been tightened as a result of assassination threats from Iran.

A Trump campaign spokesperson did not directly address whether the phones used by Trump and Vance had been hacked. But in a statement, spokesman Steven Cheung criticized the White House and Harris and sought to blame them for allowing a foreign adversary to attack the campaign.

Earlier this year, security officials discovered the presence of a Chinese-affiliated hacking group in American telecommunications systems. But investigators recently determined that hackers were targeting specific phone numbers, officials said.

The hackers’ infiltration extends beyond the 2024 political campaign, and several people are said to have been targeted, people familiar with the investigation said, suggesting it could have far-reaching implications for national security.

The investigation into the extent of the hack and any damage to national security is in its early stages. It’s difficult to know whether such an attack could monitor or record phone conversations, and whether hackers could read or intercept text messages, for example, would largely depend on what messaging apps the targets used and how that data was moved. through the telephone company’s network. systems.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that a cyber attack linked to the Chinese government had infiltrated the networks of some American broadband providers and may have been able to obtain information from systems used by the federal government in FISA court wiretapping efforts.

A Verizon spokesman, Rich Young, said in a statement that the company was “aware that a highly sophisticated nation-state actor may have attacked several U.S. telecommunications providers to gather intelligence.” He said Verizon is assisting authorities in the investigation and working to address any ongoing issues.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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