close
close

Association-anemone

Bite-sized brilliance in every update

China-linked hackers targeted Trump family and Harris-Biden aides: report
asane

China-linked hackers targeted Trump family and Harris-Biden aides: report

Hackers linked to China targeted members of the Trump family, State Department officials and Harris-Biden administration aides during a shocking breach of US telecommunications systems, a new report says.

The criminals targeted dozens of highly connected Americans, including Eric Trump, Jared Kushner, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign staff, diplomatic staff, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other officials. sources told the New York Times Tuesday.

“Does that surprise anyone? Under Kamala and Biden, China has walked all over our country,” Eric Trump told reporters in response to the news.

A source close to Kushner told The Post, “Everybody has been trying to hack Jared, and that’s been the case for the last nine years, and there’s no indication that anyone has had access to the data.”

Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has been heavily involved in foreign policy during the Trump administration. Reuters
Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, attacked the Biden-Harris administration in response to the attack. Reuters

Investigators are not sure how much of others’ data may have been collected during the breach.

Last week, the media reported that phones belonging to former President Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance had been targeted by the group.

“This is the continuation of election interference by Kamala Harris and Democrats who will stop at nothing, including encouraging China and Iran to attack critical American infrastructure, to prevent President Trump from returning to the White House,” he said at the time Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung. .

In a joint statement, the US government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency and the FBI confirmed Friday that there was “unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by actors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China.”

CISA and the FBI stopped short of identifying the targets.

Some cyber security experts claimed that the attack came from Salt Typhoon, a group with ties to China. But investigators cautioned that the investigation is still ongoing.

Salt Typhoon has allegedly carried out advanced cyber attacks on behalf of the Chinese government in the past.

FBI investigators looking into the situation surmised that cyber intruders may have been able to access unencrypted SMS text messages and call logs from multiple devices.

In addition, some audio mail may have been breached as well, according to the report.

The hack apparently penetrated Verizon’s phone systems.

Investigators believe the China-linked Salt Typhoon group may have been involved in the hacking. Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Trump-Vance campaign did not respond to a Post request for comment Tuesday.

Authorities discovered a Salt Typhoon-style breach in US telecommunications systems earlier this year and expressed concern that digital intrusion could risk information gathered with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, in which the government compiles foreign intelligence on domestic soil.

Concerns about foreign cyber hackers have emerged in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.

Earlier this year, agents linked to Tehran targeted the Trump-Vance campaign with a phishing scheme that allowed him to gain access to an account, the Justice Department said.

From there, hackers linked to Iran allegedly obtained a dossier compiled on behalf of the campaign detailing potential political liabilities regarding Vance and sent it to several media outlets.

Trump’s campaign was informed of the breach last week. Reuters

That file was later published by journalist Ken Klippenstein.

Iran is believed to be interested in working to tilt the election against Trump.

According to federal prosecutors, Tehran allegedly concocted a scheme to assassinate the former president as well.

Officials familiar with the recent China-related hack said Beijing does not appear to be trying to tilt the presidential election one way or another, but is interested in congressional races.

Officials said China is not specifically looking to boost Trump or Harris in the race, but rather is hoping for specific results in certain congressional races.

Last year, hackers linked to China breached the emails of a number of US officials, such as Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who later confirmed the crime.

Neither the Chinese embassy in Washington nor the US State Department responded to The Post’s requests for comment.