American authorities said on Friday they were investigating a cyberattack that they attribute to actors linked to China, with the American press claiming that the phones of Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance were targeted. People linked to the campaign team of Democrat Kamala Harris were also targeted by this attempted intrusion, AFP learned from a source close to the matter.
“The United States government is investigating unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by actors linked to the People’s Republic of China,” said the Federal Police (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Security Agency. infrastructures (CISA) in a joint press release. According to the New York Times, the phones of former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump, as well as his running mate JD Vance, were targeted. They were warned this week of this attempt, according to the daily which cited anonymous sources on Friday.
An attack via a telephone operator
Investigators are still investigating whether or not the hackers managed to access the data and communications of the two men, according to the New York Times and the Washington Post. The FBI declined to comment on the specific targets.
These revelations come less than two weeks before a presidential election which promises to be extremely close. Donald Trump and JD Vance both speak very harshly on China. The computer attack was carried out, according to the daily, by the telephone operator Verizon.
American campaigns under pressure from cyberattacks over the past ten years
“We are aware of reports that a highly capable state actor has targeted multiple U.S. telecommunications carriers in order to gather intelligence,” the company said in a statement. Verizon added “working to confirm, assess and remediate any possible impact.”
American justice indicted three suspected Iranian cyberhackers at the end of September, who allegedly acted on behalf of Tehran and attempted to carry out a computer attack on Donald Trump’s campaign team. In 2016, a Hacking of Democratic Party emails – attributed to Russia – had made internal exchanges public, including some about candidate Hillary Clinton.
