With less than 10 days left until the most anticipated US presidential election, Chinese government-linked hackers attempted to intercept audio of calls made by US political figures, including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s anonymous campaign adviser. A report surfaced.
The Washington Post said in a report that the FBI and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are investigating incidents in which unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure was granted by individuals with ties to China.
The Trump campaign and the FBI have not released statements regarding the incident. The report added that the hackers also accessed unencrypted communications such as text messages.
Reuters previously reported that China-based hackers targeted cellphones used by Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign members.
Former President Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, were also targeted, according to various media reports last week.
Earlier this year, the Trump campaign was hacked by Iranian hackers. The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted three members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on hacking charges for allegedly trying to interfere with the November 5 U.S. presidential election.
The New York Times reported that the Trump campaign announced last week that the Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates were among a number of people inside and outside the government whose phone numbers were targeted in a breach of Verizon’s systems. He said he learned about it.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said last week that it was not aware of any such hacking attempt, adding that China opposes and combats all forms of cyberattacks.
