As part of a global cyber campaign, US officials believe Chinese hackers compromised at least eight US telecom companies to spy on prominent US politicians, a White House official said Wednesday.
There is a chance that communication will continue to be compromised, according to deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger.
The scope of a hacking campaign that has angered the US national security establishment and is certain to test the incoming Trump administration has been estimated by the Biden administration in the most thorough public estimate to far.
Officials don’t think the hackers were able to obtain classified material, Neuberger said.
Neuberger’s comments followed a confidential briefing on the Chinese hacking campaign by senior U.S. intelligence officials to senators on Wednesday.
According to an earlier CNN investigation, the accused Chinese hackers targeted key members of the Biden administration as well as prominent US political personalities, including President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, via their phone communications.
China has denied any involvement.
There is currently no deadline for US officials to assist major telecom carriers in removing Chinese government-backed hackers from their networks, officials said Tuesday.
According to FBI and CISA officials, the telecom companies who have collaborated with federal authorities the longest have made the greatest strides in eliminating the hackers. As CNN has reported, the hackers have targeted major telecom operators like AT&T and Verizon.
In the most comprehensive briefing on the espionage campaign to date, a senior FBI officer stated that the agency began looking into Chinese hacking activity in late spring or early summer of this year.
Numerous bulk phone records that reveal who, where, and when people were corresponding with were taken by the hackers; however, the contents of the calls and messages were not.
“A senior FBI official said.” According to the person, a small number of US government or political figures had their call and text data intercepted by the hackers.
According to a senior FBI officer, the hackers duplicated certain information that was requested by US law enforcement under court orders.
According to the official, the hackers did not, however, primarily target the telecom provider interface that permits law enforcement to carry out court-ordered wiretaps.
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