Chinese hackers breached Verizon’s systems to target phones associated with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s campaign, Reuters reports.
Reports also suggest that the phones of Republican candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, were similarly targeted, though Reuters was unable to confirm this.
The New York Times reported that investigators are now working to determine if any communications were accessed from Trump and Vance. The Trump campaign acknowledged the infiltration this week, though it did not confirm that Trump’s or Vance’s phones were specifically affected.
Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, attributed the incident to alleged emboldenment of adversaries like China and Iran, whom he accused of aiming to disrupt U.S. infrastructure.
China’s embassy in Washington responded, stating it opposes cyber attacks and has no intent to interfere in U.S. elections. Meanwhile, the FBI and U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are actively investigating this unauthorized access, amid rising concerns over international cyber threats to U.S. telecommunications.
