The US government is investigating unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by Chinese hackers, including the Trump and Harris campaigns.
The campaigns were informed of the possible breach of cell phones used by former President Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, as well as members of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, the New York Times reported Friday and the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter. matter.
“After the FBI identified 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 help other potential victims “, the FBI and CISA told Fox. News Digital in a joint statement.
The FBI and CISA said the investigation is ongoing and “we encourage any organization that believes they may be a victim to contact their local FBI office or CISA.” U.S. government agencies are working together to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry. partners to strengthen cyber defenses in the commercial communications sector.
WE WANT THE FBI TO TELL US ABOUT HACKING THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN: REP. JIM JORDAN
The Trump campaign has also been targeted by Iranian hackers. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The hackers are believed to be linked to Chinese government intelligence services, the Journal reported.
“We are aware that a highly sophisticated state actor may have targeted multiple U.S. telecommunications providers to gather intelligence,” Verizon said in a statement. “Together with federal law enforcement, our industry peers and third-party cyber experts, we are working to confirm, assess and remediate any potential impacts. Verizon is committed to assisting law enforcement in this investigation. As this is an active investigation, we have no additional comment at this time.”
The unnamed officials said investigators were working to determine whether data was stolen during the campaigns, adding that others within the U.S. government may have been targeted by the attackers.
The Trump campaign blamed the attack on the Biden-Harris administration.
“It’s continued election interference from Kamala Harris and Democrats who will stop at nothing, including emboldening China and Iran by attacking critical US infrastructure, to prevent President Trump from returning to the White House ” said Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign. , told Fox News Digital on Friday.
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A person familiar with the matter also confirmed to Fox News Digital that the Harris campaign was also targeted.
The Trump campaign was targeted by Chinese hackers through phones used by former President Trump and his running mate JD Vance, according to a report. (Ma Yue/VCG via Getty Images)
The latest apparent attack comes months after the Trump campaign said campaign data had been targeted by Iranian hackers.
In September, three hackers linked to Iran were indicted in connection with a hacking plot against the Trump campaign.
Iran tried to influence election by sending stolen materials from Trump campaign to Biden camp, FBI says
The three hackers, accused of working for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were allegedly “engaged in a massive hacking campaign using spear phishing and social engineering techniques to target and compromise the accounts of former and current U.S. government officials.” members of the media, non-governmental organizations, and individuals associated with American political campaigns.
“These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, with the aim of interfering with the 2024 elections and sowing chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Steven Cheung, director communications from the Trump campaign, after Politico reported that the campaign had been targeted by spearfishing.
Members of Harris’ team were also targeted in the hack, according to a report. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has also reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
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This is not the first election cycle that a foreign power has attempted to influence elections through hacking.
In 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the DNC had their emails hacked by Russia and leaked via Wikileaks during the election.
