China-linked hackers targeted the Trump family, State Department officials and aides to the Harris-Biden administration in a shocking breach of U.S. telecommunications systems, according to a new report.
The perpetrators were dozens of people, including Eric Trump, Jared Kushner, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign staff, diplomatic staff, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and other officials. sources told The New York Times on Tuesday. .
“Is anyone surprised by this? Under Mr. Kamala and Mr. Biden, China has roamed all over our country,” Eric Trump told the outlet following the news.
“Everyone has been trying to hack Jared, and it’s been going on for the past nine years, and there’s no indication that anyone has accessed the data,” a source close to Mr. Kushner told the Post.
Investigators are not sure how much of other people’s data was collected during the breach.
Last week, the outlet reported that the cell phones of former President Donald Trump and vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance were targeted by the group.
“This is a continuation of election interference by Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party, who are trying to prevent President Trump from returning to the White House by targeting U.S. “We will do whatever it takes, including daring attacks on infrastructure.” .
The U.S. Government Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI acknowledged in a joint statement Friday that there had been “unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by persons with ties to the People’s Republic of China.”
CISA and FBI stopped short of identifying the target.
Some cybersecurity experts have blamed the attack on Salt Typhoon, a group with ties to China. But investigators warned that the investigation is still ongoing.
Salt Typhoon is believed to have carried out sophisticated cyberattacks on behalf of the Chinese government in the past.
FBI agents investigating the situation speculate that the cyber intruders may have been able to access unencrypted SMS text messages and call records on multiple devices.
In addition, some voice communications may have also been compromised, according to the report.
The hack reportedly penetrated Verizon’s phone system.
Trump and Vance’s campaigns did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment Tuesday.
Authorities discovered Salt Typhoon’s intrusion into U.S. telecommunications systems earlier this year, raising concerns that digital intrusions could jeopardize information stored under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to gather foreign intelligence at home. He expressed concern that there is.
Concerns about foreign cyber hackers are emerging in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.
Earlier this year, the Department of Justice announced that agents linked to the Iranian government targeted the Trump Vance campaign with a phishing scam that gave them access to its accounts.
From there, Iran-linked hackers allegedly obtained and sent documents compiled on behalf of the campaign detailing potential political charges regarding Vance to multiple media outlets.
The document was later published by journalist Ken Krippenstein.
Iran is widely believed to be interested in tilting the presidential election in Trump’s favor.
Federal prosecutors say Tehran is suspected of concocting a plot that could also assassinate the former president.
Officials familiar with recent hacks linked to China said the Chinese government does not appear to be trying to influence the presidential election in any way, but maintained that it has an interest in the parliamentary elections.
Officials said China was not specifically trying to promote Trump or Harris in the election race, but rather was hoping for a specific outcome in a specific congressional race.
Last year, Chinese-linked hackers compromised the emails of numerous U.S. officials, including Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, who later admitted to the crime.
Neither the Chinese embassy in Washington nor the U.S. State Department responded to The Post’s requests for comment.
