Chinese hackers who accessed Verizon’s systems have targeted phones linked to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a source familiar with the matter reported on Friday.
Media reports also indicated that Republican candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, were targeted, though Reuters has not confirmed these claims. The New York Times noted that investigators are currently looking into what communications, if any, were compromised from the phones of Trump and Vance.
This week, the Trump campaign was informed that both Trump and Vance were among numerous individuals, both in government and outside, whose phone numbers were compromised due to the breach of Verizon’s systems.
However, the campaign has not officially confirmed whether their phones were specifically targeted.
Steven Cheung, the communications director for the Trump campaign, accused Vice President Harris of empowering China and Iran to attack U.S. infrastructure in a bid to hinder Trump’s return to office.
The Chinese embassy in Washington, while not commenting on this specific incident, stated that China opposes all forms of cyberattacks and theft, emphasizing that the U.S. presidential elections are domestic affairs in which China does not intend to interfere. The Harris campaign has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Earlier this year, the Trump campaign experienced a hack attributed to members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, who were charged by the U.S. Justice Department for attempting to disrupt the November 5 election.
The FBI and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced they are investigating unauthorized access to U.S. telecommunications infrastructure linked to individuals associated with China, though they did not specify the targets involved.
Verizon confirmed awareness of a sophisticated attempt to compromise U.S. telecoms and stated that it is cooperating with law enforcement.
