The announcement follows months after the Trump campaign claimed that Iranian rogue actors had targeted its data. According to an investigation by the U.S. authorities, the Trump and Harris campaigns are among the Chinese hackers who have gained unlawful access to commercial telecommunications equipment.
The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the situation, that the campaigns had been notified of the possible hack of smartphones used by former President Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, as well as officials of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
“After the FBI identified specific malicious activity targeting the sector, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) immediately notified affected companies, rendered technical assistance, and rapidly shared information to assist other potential victims,” the FBI and CISA stated to Fox News Digital in a joint press release.
“We encourage any organization that believes it might be a victim to engage its local FBI field office or CISA,” the FBI and CISA stated, adding that the investigation was still underway. In addition to working with our business partners to fortify cyber defences throughout the commercial communications sector, U.S. government agencies are working together to counter this threat vigorously.”
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According to The Journal, the hackers are thought to have ties to the Chinese government’s intelligence agencies.
“We are aware that a highly sophisticated nation-state actor has reportedly targeted several U.S. telecommunications providers to gather intelligence,” a statement from Verizon read. “We are collaborating with federal law enforcement, industry colleagues, and outside cyber specialists to verify, evaluate, and address any possible effect. Verizon is dedicated to helping the police with their inquiry. We don’t currently have any more comments because this is an ongoing inquiry.”
Investigators are trying to determine whether any data was taken from the campaigns, the unnamed officials said, adding that the attackers could have targeted other members of the U.S. government.
The Biden-Harris administration was held accountable for the attack by the Trump campaign.
Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital on Friday, “This is the continuation of election interference by Kamala Harris and Democrats who will stop at nothing, including emboldening China and Iran attacking critical American infrastructure, to prevent President Trump from returning to the White House.”
The Harris campaign was also targeted, an individual with knowledge of the situation told Fox News Digital.
The Trump team claimed that Iranian hackers had targeted campaign data months before to the most recent alleged incident.
Three Iranian-affiliated hackers were charged in September with participating in a cyber conspiracy against the Trump campaign.
The three hackers allegedly “engaged in a wide-ranging hacking campaign that used spear-phishing and social engineering techniques to target and compromise the accounts of current and former U.S. government officials, members of the media, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals associated with U.S. political campaigns.” They are suspected of being employed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Cheung claimed in August that the campaign had been the subject of spear phishing. “These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process,” Cheung stated.
The Harris campaign has also been contacted by Fox News Digital for comment.
This is not the first election cycle in which a foreign power has tried to use hacking to influence the results.
Russia notoriously hacked the emails of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, releasing them via Wikileaks during the election.
