Chinese government-linked hackers have infiltrated U.S. telecommunications systems — and reportedly stole secret communications data from former President Donald Trump’s family and Trump campaign officials in a sophisticated operation.
Officials say the hack was much larger than originally feared, and the damage is still be assessed.
“It’s real-time wiretapping,” a source told CNN. “They flat-out hacked the system that the Department of Justice requires [telecommunications firms] to maintain for lawful access.”
The breach, first discovered two weeks ago, has expanded to include Eric Trump, Jared Kushner, and nearly 100 other targets including Democratic staff and an aide to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, according to federal officials.
Trump’s son blamed President Joe Biden’s weak foreign policy for emboldening America’s adversaries.
“Does this surprise anyone? Under Kamala and Biden, China has walked all over our country,” Eric Trump told The New York Times.
“The White House’s dangerous and violent rhetoric has given permission to those who wish to harm President Trump,” Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said.
“They have now stood by and allowed major foreign adversaries to attack us in order to illegally help Kamala because they know she represents a weak American who will always bow down,” he said.
Verizon acknowledged a “highly sophisticated nation-state actor” targeting providers that allowed the Chinese-linked hackers to get the secret Trump family data.
“Along with federal law enforcement, industry peers and third-party cyber experts, we are working to confirm, assess and remediate any potential impact,” the company said.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency confirmed it is investigating “unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by actors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China.
They said that intelligence “agencies across the U.S. 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 hackers, identified as “Salt Typhoon,” accessed audio communications and potentially unencrypted text messages and call logs.
The group has previously conducted operations for Chinese intelligence and was blamed for accessing U.S. telecommunications systems earlier this year.