Chinese hackers compromised U.S. communication networks in search of data from the phones used by former President and presidential candidate Donald Trump, along with his running mate JD Vance, according to The New York Times on Friday.
The Republican candidate's presidential campaign was alerted earlier this week about the tracking of Trump and JD Vance's phone numbers by hackers, who may have accessed data from the devices to gather information. It is still unclear whether they successfully accessed the data, including text messages from the former president and his partner, especially those sent through unencrypted channels.
Trump's campaign was informed that both the candidate and Vance were among the individuals whose phone numbers were infiltrated in Verizon's phone systems. According to The New York Times, this information could help China identify individuals close to Trump and target them for influence operations.
The incident has raised concerns about the security of communications in the United States, especially after three members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard hacked emails from Trump's presidential campaign.
Three members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were charged with hacking and stealing emails from Trump's campaign. The defendants were charged with providing support for terrorism, computer fraud, electronic fraud, and identity theft.
The U.S. Attorney General detailed that the alleged Iranian hackers linked to the Tehran government stole information from Trump's team and sent it to the Democratic campaign and several media outlets, which has been denied by Tehran. In response, the State Department offered a reward of $10 million for information leading to the capture of these individuals.
The Attorney General warned that Iran continues to attempt to undermine presidential elections and the Department of Justice is committed to countering this threat. He assured that the American people will decide the outcome of the elections in the country, not a foreign power.
