A broad Chinese hacking campaign against US telecommunications networks targeted the phones of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, two sources familiar with the matter said. Another source told NBC News that people associated with Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign were also targeted.
None of the three sources clarified whether campaign equipment had been successfully compromised or whether China had stolen their communications. It is unclear who in the Harris campaign was targeted and whether others in the Trump campaign besides Trump and Vance were also targeted.
In a joint statement, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the federal government is “investigating unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by actors associated with the People’s Republic of China.”
“After identifying specific malicious activity targeting the industry, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) immediately notified affected companies, provided technical assistance, and quickly shared information to identify other potential victims. help,” the statement said.
The FBI declined to speak about specific people targeted by the campaign.
The US government recently concluded that China hacked three US telecommunications companies: AT&T, Verizon and Lumen Technologies. Lumen declined to comment. AT&T did not respond to a request for comment.
Rich Young, a spokesperson for Verizon, told NBC News: “We are aware that a highly sophisticated nation-state actor has reportedly targeted several U.S. telecommunications providers for intelligence gathering.”
“Together with federal law enforcement agencies, industry peers and third-party cyber experts, we have worked and are continuing to confirm, assess and remediate any impacts,” Young said.
No US official NBC News has spoken to so far has suggested this is part of a “hack-and-leak” operation or any attempt to influence the 2024 US election.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC said in an emailed statement to NBC News that they were “not aware of the specific situation” and could not comment on it.
“The presidential elections are internal affairs of the United States. China has no intention and will not interfere in the US elections. We hope that the US side will not make any accusations against China in the elections,” the spokesperson said.
It is not clear that the hack was an attempt to influence the presidential election. China has a robust cyber espionage operation and a long history of daring operations to spy on American companies and government officials.
The current presidential election has been marked by detailed US accusations that both Iran and Russia have launched operations to sway voters in favor of Harris and Trump, their respective presidential candidates. Iran has generally denied such operations, while Russian state media have offered a trolling confession.
In contrast, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has repeatedly said that while China seeks to undermine American society in general and the democratic process in particular, and to harm congressional candidates it dislikes, it does not seek to influence the 2024 presidential elections. race. ODNI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it still stood by that assessment in light of China reportedly targeting both campaigns’ phones.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
