Verizon has confirmed it is aware that ‘a highly sophisticated nation-state actor’ has targeted several US telecommunication providers in an espionage plot.
The disclosure came hours after Chinese hackers went after the mobile devices of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, his running mate JD Vance and staff of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
‘Along with federal law enforcement, industry peers and third-party cyber experts, we are working to confirm, assess and remediate any potential impact,’ Verizon shared in a statement to the New York Times.
Trump campaign officials were told Friday that the hackers could still be hiding inside Verizon’s systems, but if they are attempting to steal data is unknown.
While the FBI did not officially confirm that former president Trump and Vance were victimized, the bureau did note it was zeroing in on Chinese state actors as culprits.
‘The FBI identified specific malicious activity,’ the bureau wrote in a press release, ‘unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by actors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China.’
‘Agencies across the US Government are collaborating to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defenses across the commercial communications sector,’ the FBI said.
Chinese hackers are said to have targeted phones used by Donald Trump and running mate J.D. Vance in a breach of a telecommunications network, a new report claims.
The Trump campaign was informed earlier this week that the phone numbers of the Republican presidential nominee and his running mate were breached, The New York Times reported.
Staff were warned that data may have been accessed in the sophisticated hack.
It was believed to be part of an infiltration of the Verizon phone systems.
Investigators are trying to find out if any data was taken during the hack of phones used by politicians and government employees.
It is just the latest instance of an overseas actor seeking to illicitly influence the U.S. elections.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14003255/trump-vance-phones-chinese-hackers-election.html