As campaigning for the U.S. Presidential Elections reaches its final stage, U.S. media reported an FBI probe launched into an alleged hacking incident in which the mobile phones of Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, were reportedly compromised by Chinese hackers.
According to international news reports, hackers linked to China allegedly targeted the mobile phones of the United States Republican presidential candidate, his running mate, and individuals associated with the campaign of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. They are said to have tapped into the network of mobile phone provider Verizon; however, investigators are now probing whether any data was gathered from the phones of these leaders or not.
‘Agencies across US collaborating to mitigate this threat’
Notably, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), without directly naming the targets of the hack, mentioned in a joint statement that the U.S. government is investigating unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by actors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China.
“After the FBI identified specific malicious activity targeting the sector, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) immediately notified affected companies, rendered technical assistance, and rapidly shared information to assist other potential victims. The investigation is ongoing, and we encourage any organization that believes it might be a victim to engage its local FBI field office or CISA,” the statement reads.
“Agencies across the U.S. government are collaborating to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defenses across the commercial communications sector,” it added.
Campaigns informed of possible China-backed cyber attack
The New York Times confirmed that the Trump campaign was made aware of the possible cyber threat, where their mobile phones, targeted through the infiltration of Verizon phone systems, might be on the hackers’ list; however, official confirmation from the Republican campaign is awaited. So far, the Democratic campaign has not commented on the reports.
Significantly, it is pertinent to note that if confirmed, this would mark the second major instance of the Trump campaign being allegedly hacked, as U.S. officials remain on high alert for foreign interference in the final stretch of the presidential campaign. Earlier this year, the U.S. Justice Department charged three members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, accusing them of trying to disrupt the November 5 election.