Chinese hacker attack on 8 US telephone providers confirmed

Chinese hacker attack on 8 US telephone providers confirmed

US authorities assume that Chinese hackers have infiltrated at least eight US telecommunications providers in order to spy on high-ranking American politicians. This is part of a comprehensive hacking campaign that affects numerous countries worldwide, as an official of the White House reported on Wednesday.

Current threat from Chinese hacker

"At the moment we do not believe that these networks have been completely cleaned by the Chinese actors ... Therefore there is a risk of continuing compromising communication," explained Anne Neuberger, deputy national security consultant, to journalists.

scope of the hacking campaign

This information is the most comprehensive public promise of the bid administration to date on the dimension of the hacking campaign, which considerably questions the US national security and is expected to challenge the upcoming Trump administration. Neuberger emphasized that the hackers had not accessed confidential information.

briefing of the intelligence authorities

Neuberger's statements fell together with a secret information of high-ranking US secretary officers on Senators on Wednesday, which dealt with the Chinese hacking campaign.

attacks on high -ranking politicians

The alleged Chinese hackers aimed at telephone communication by high-ranking US politicians, including the designated President Donald Trump and the designated Vice President JD Vance and leading members of the bid administration, CNN reported.

China's denial and ongoing investigation

china has vigorously rejected the allegations. According to the US authorities, they continue to try to help sell large telecommunications providers to sell hackers supported by the Chinese government from their networks. However, a time frame for the conclusion of these efforts is still pending, according to the officials on Tuesday.

progress of the telecommunications companies

The telecommunications companies that work with the federal authorities the longest are most advanced in the expulsion of the hackers. The FBI and CISA authorities reported that Verizon and AT&T are among the great providers that were targeted by the hackers.

Investigation of the FBI for Chinese hacker activities

The FBI started studying Chinese hacker activities at the end of spring or early summer of this year. This reported a high-ranking FBI official in the most detailed update of the authority to the spy campaign.

stolen data and monitoring

The hackers stole "a large amount" of telephone recordings that show where, when and with whom people communicated, but not about the content of the calls or texts. For a "limited number" of people in the US government or in politics, the hackers were able to intercept call and text data, the official continued.

statutory surveillance inquiries and focus of the hacker

In addition, the hackers “copied certain information that was subject to US law inquiries within the framework of court decisions”, reported the high-ranking FBI official. However, access to the portal within the telecommunications providers, which enables law enforcement authorities to carry out a courtly arranged listening campaigns, was not the primary focus of the hackers.