The US is investigating the intrusion of Chinese-linked hackers into telecommunications networks

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. government said Friday it is investigating unauthorized access by Chinese state-linked hackers targeting the commercial telecommunications sector.

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The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said they identified specific malicious activity by entities linked to the Chinese government and immediately notified the affected companies, “provided technical assistance and quickly shared information to assist other potential victims.” , – the agencies reported. joint statement

The announcement was made on Friday after The New York Times reported that Chinese hackers who penetrated US communications networks had compromised data from phones used by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

People associated with the Harris-Walz campaign were also targeted, according to a person familiar with the matter

In their statement, the agencies did not mention the alleged attacks on Trump, Vance or other campaigns, nor did they name the companies involved.

The Trump campaign has not confirmed the Times’ report, including whether Chinese hackers accessed phones used by the former president or Vance. In a statement, campaign spokesman Stephen Cheng blamed the Biden-Harris administration for failing to deter foreign adversaries from striking critical US infrastructure.

A representative for the Harris campaign declined to comment.

The FBI and CISA said the investigation is ongoing, adding that government agencies are working to “aggressively mitigate this threat and coordinate with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defenses in the commercial communications sector.”

Trump’s team was briefed that the former president and his running mate were among the people whose phone numbers were targeted by a hack into Verizon’s phone systems, the newspaper reported. A company representative told the Times it was assisting the government’s investigation.

Canada’s top cybersecurity agency said Friday that state-sponsored Chinese hackers had been conducting “large-scale intelligence scans over several months” against targets including government agencies, political parties and both houses of parliament, in addition to security. sector and critical infrastructure. According to the Canadian Cyber Security Centre, the scan did not indicate that these networks had been compromised.

“This is equivalent to someone walking around a building to check if there is an alarm or CCTV, or trying to open windows and doors to see which ones are unlocked,” the Canadian agency said.

–Contributed by Stephanie Lay.

(Update for the purpose of the Harriz-Walz campaign in the fourth paragraph.)