Chinese Hackers

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Trump and Vance possible targets of China-backed cyber attack

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.

The Department of Justice and the FBI declined to comment on whether candidates were targeted.

A joint statement from the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said the US government was investigating the "unauthorised access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by actors affiliated with the People's Republic of China".

They said after the "malicious activity" was identified, the agencies "immediately notified affected companies, rendered technical assistance, and rapidly shared information to assist other potential victims", adding that the investigation was ongoing.

"Agencies across the US government are collaborating to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defences across the commercial communications sector," they added.

Law enforcement is currently treating the hack as an act of espionage, not as an attempt at campaign influence, one source told CBS.

Earlier this month it emerged that US telecommunications companies had been targeted in a hack.

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".

Chinese hackers targeted phones affiliated with Harris campaign, source says

Chinese hackers who tapped into Verizon's system targeted phones used by people affiliated with the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a person familiar with the situation said on Friday.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, were also targeted, according to media reports. Reuters could not confirm those reports.

The New York Times reported investigators were working to determine what communications, if any, were taken from Trump and Vance.

The Trump campaign was made aware this week that Trump and Vance were among a number of people inside and outside of government whose phone numbers were targeted through the infiltration of Verizon (VZ.N), opens new tab phone systems, the Times report added.

The Trump campaign did not confirm that Trump's and Vance's phones were targeted.

Steven Cheung, the campaign's communications director, said Vice President Harris has emboldened China and Iran to attack U.S. infrastructure to prevent Trump from returning to office.

While noting that it was not aware of the specific situation, the Chinese embassy in Washington said China opposes and combat cyber attacks and cyber thefts in all forms.

"The presidential elections are the United States' domestic affairs. China has no intention and will not interfere in the U.S. election," an embassy spokesperson said when reached for comment.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Trump campaign was hacked earlier this year. The U.S. Justice Department charged three members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps with the hack, accusing them of trying to disrupt the Nov. 5 election.

The FBI and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said on Friday they were investigating unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by people associated with China.

The joint statement by the agencies did not name the targets of the incident.

Verizon said it was aware of a sophisticated attempt to reportedly target U.S. telecoms and gather intelligence.

The largest U.S. telecom company added it was working with law enforcement.