Hackers linked to the Chinese government have targeted the phone communications of US presidential candidate Donald Trump and vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance. Senior Biden administration officials have also been targeted by hackers, sources said.
This week, U.S. officials told the Trump campaign that the phones of both Trump and Vance were monitored by Chinese hackers. Commenting on the incident, Trump campaign spokesperson Zhang Kangning said that the policies of the Biden-Harris campaign are helpful to China. It’s unclear what information the hackers obtained. According to CNN, the phone communications of U.S. officials have long been considered important to foreign spies.
On Friday, the FBI and cybersecurity agency CISA said they were investigating a case in which Chinese hackers attempted to gain unauthorized access to U.S. telecommunications networks. After notifying the affected companies and offering assistance, the FBI and CISA expedited their investigations. The New York Times first reported the incident and said that many U.S. telecommunications companies have been targeted by Chinese hackers in the past few months.
Experts believe the hackers were trying to obtain sensitive information related to national security. Hackers have targeted major U.S. telecommunications companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Lumen. However, the Chinese government denies these accusations. The revelations come as China, Iran and Russia are trying to influence or monitor aspects of the U.S. election. China did not engage in any major interference in the presidential election but targeted at least 10 other campaigns through social media campaigns, according to U.S. intelligence agencies.
