US authorities say cybercriminals linked to China may have attempted to tap into the phones or networks used by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, a number of sources familiar with the matter confirmed to the BBC’s US news partner, CBS News.
The sources said the Trump-Vance campaign had been alerted to the fact that phones used by Trump and Vance may have been among the targets of a broader cyber attack.
People affiliated with the Harris-Walz campaign were also targeted, a person familiar told BBC News.
It is unclear how much information, if any, may have been compromised.
Federal authorities believe China-backed cybercriminals attempted to tap into phones or networks used by former President Donald Trump, Sen. JD Vance and members of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, multiple sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News. Officials are concerned the hackers infiltrated telecommunication systems and then targeted the candidates, the sources said.
The breadth of the potential cyber operation and information the alleged hackers might have compromised remains unclear. The sources said the campaign was recently alerted that phones used by the candidates may have been among the targets of a cyber campaign.
The news was first reported by The New York Times.
The Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment.
A source familiar with the investigation told CBS News the potential targeting of Trump and Vance was part of a broad cyberattack that targeted officials from both major political parties, and law enforcement recently notified potential victims. Law enforcement is currently treating the hack as an act of espionage, not as an attempt at campaign influence, another source said.
In a joint statement published by the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the agencies said, “The U.S. Government is investigating the unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by actors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China.” One of the companies affected is said to be Verizon, through which the hackers are thought to have potentially targeted Trump and Vance’s data, according to the New York Times, who first reported the story.
In a statement, Verizon spokesman Rich Young said the company was “aware that a highly sophisticated nation-state actor has reportedly targeted several US telecommunications providers to gather intelligence.”
He said Verizon is assisting law enforcement agencies in the investigation and working to address any further problems.
The Trump campaign has already been the target of one hack earlier this year.
Three Iranians nationals linked to the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were charged in September with deliberately attempting to undermine a presidential campaign.
US government agencies and officials have long-warned of the threat of foreign interference in the US, including US elections.
“Our adversaries do look at American elections as points to try to influence, to try to undermine confidence in our democracy, to try to put their thumb on the scale,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in the summer. “We are clear eyed about that. And we are doing a lot to push back against it”.
In January, the issue was discussed in Congress, with FBI Director Christopher Wray warning that Chinese hackers were preparing to “wreak havoc and cause real-world harm” to the US.
