Chinese hackers are said to have targeted phones used by Donald Trump and running mate J.D. Vance in a breach of a telecommunications network, a new report claims.
The Trump campaign was informed earlier this week that the phone numbers of the Republican presidential nominee and his running mate were breached, The New York Times reported.
Staff were warned that data may have been accessed in the sophisticated hack.
It was believed to be part of an infiltration of the Verizon phone systems.
Investigators are trying to find out if any data was taken during the hack of phones used by politicians and government employees.
It is just the latest instance of an overseas actor seeking to illicitly influence the U.S. elections.
The Justice Department late last month charged Iranian hackers with hacking Trump’s campaign in an effort to interfere in the election.
Even information about who Trump and Vance were calling and texting would be valuable information – whether or not it brought forth information on the contents.
It would allow for further hacking operations targeting their contacts, and would reveal information about who remains in their circle.
Already this election there have been reports that Trump and top supporter Elon Musk have been in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin – a sign of how the mere existence of a contact can make waves politically.
Officials say the Trump campaign was made aware of the breach this week.
Trump is a regular cell phone user (though he is not believed to be a texter), and frequently drops public hints about the high profile people he has been in contact with.
In recent days he revealed a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump famously spoke about Russian hacking during the 2016 campaign when he said: ‘Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing, I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.’
According to former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Russians began spearfishing attacks targeting Clinton-associated email addresses around that time.
That election would feature a series of hacked disclosures posted on WikiLeaks.
Hackers linked to Beijing broke into multiple internet service providers, the Wall Street Journal reported late last month. It was part of a campaign investigators dubbed Salt Typhoon.
U.S.-China relations have been on tense footing for years. Trump slapped tariffs on Beijing that have remained in place under Joe Biden. China has maintained close ties with Russia even amid its war on Ukraine. And a Chinese spy balloon incident caused a fury as it made its way across the U.S.
Biden sought to put relations on a more stable footing with his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California in April. Both Biden and Xi are set to attend the upcoming APEC summit in Lima, Peru.