Chinese hackers targeted phones of Trump, Vance, and Harris campaign

Investigators now believe the major spy operation gained access to US telecommunications infrastructure and targeted or compromised several dozen different companies and people.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance. Picture: Mike Segar/Reuters/WSJ

The Chinese hackers who burrowed into the networks of US telecommunications firms have used their deep access to target the phones of former president Donald Trump, his running mate, JD Vance, and people affiliated with Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.

It wasn’t clear what data the hackers were able to obtain from any of these devices. The hackers are believed to be tied to China’s intelligence services.

Investigators have notified a bipartisan group of politicians targeted by the hackers, some of the people said.

The known scope of the attack has grown substantially in recent weeks as the investigation has progressed, the people said. Investigators now believe that the hackers gained access to US telecommunications infrastructure and targeted or compromised several dozen different companies and people.

The hackers have shown unusually aggressive tactics since being discovered last month, disturbing the federal and private-sector investigators working to address the cyber-espionage campaign. The hackers have attempted to re-enter patched systems after being ejected from them, the people said.

Investigators also discovered earlier this month that the state-aligned actor had unsuccessfully attempted to access an account held by a Wall Street Journal journalist involved in coverage of the breaches.

Microsoft, which has been deeply involved in the investigation, notified the journalist this week that the group behind those attacks, known as Salt Typhoon, had tried to access the consumer-facing account after the Journal first revealed the nature of the attacks last month.

AT&T is among the companies whose networks were penetrated by Chinese hackers. Picture: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg News/WSJ

In a statement, the Trump campaign didn’t directly address the alleged targeting of Trump and Vance, which was earlier reported Friday by the New York Times. The Trump campaign did, however, accuse the Biden administration of being weak against US adversaries.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in a separate statement Friday, confirmed it was investigating “unauthorised access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure” by Chinese actors. The statement was the first formal acknowledgment by the US government about the massive breach.

Senior Biden administration officials are still grappling with the extent of the intrusions, with some viewing them as potentially catastrophic to national security. The hackers are believed to have targeted systems used by the companies to comply with court-authorised surveillance wiretaps, in an effort to monitor US law enforcement activities, the Journal previously reported.

There could be valuable information to foreign spy services on the phones of top US politicians, who are a frequent target of nation-state hackers. This includes text messages and phone call records, and for Trump and Vance such access could reveal close associates of the potential next president and vice president.

Separately, criminal and state-sponsored hackers often target journalists in hopes of gleaning insight about their reporting and confidential sources. But former intelligence officials said the direct targeting of Western reporters by a hacking squad that had been identified by those

reporters was highly unusual and likely an attempt at retaliation or intimidation.

A spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Washington has denied that Beijing is responsible for the alleged breaches.

In recent weeks, the White House has convened highly confidential meetings to assess the damage of the compromises, which included intrusions into Verizon, AT&T and Lumen, the Journal previously reported.

“We are aware that a highly sophisticated nation-state actor has reportedly targeted several U.S. telecommunications providers to gather intelligence,” Verizon spokesman Rich Young said. He added that the company was working with law enforcement and experts to “assess and remediate any potential impact.” Officials within the Biden administration are weighing a range of possible responses to China, according to people familiar with the matter.

“This is too big an initiative by our adversaries for this to just lie fallow,” retired Gen. Paul Nakasone, who stepped down earlier this year from running the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command, said earlier this week. While the campaign largely appeared to be focused on intelligence collection, “what’s different about this is the scale,” Nakasone said.

– Drew FitzGerald, Alex Leary and Robert McMillan contributed to this article.

Dow Jones Newswires