The U.S. government agencies FBI and CISA have announced an investigation into the hacking activities on the foundational infrastructure of the American telecommunications industry by Chinese Communist hackers.
In a joint statement, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) stated that the U.S. government is investigating actions by entities affiliated with the People’s Republic of China, for unauthorized intrusions into commercial telecommunications infrastructure.
“After FBI identified specific malicious activities targeting the (telecom) industry, FBI and CISA immediately notified the affected companies, provided technical assistance, and rapidly shared information to help other potential victims,” the statement said.
The statement mentioned that they are currently conducting an ongoing investigation and encouraged potential victim organizations to contact their local FBI office or CISA.
“The U.S. government agencies are cooperating actively to mitigate this threat and are coordinating with industry partners to strengthen the network defense across the entire business communications sector,” the statement continued.
Earlier on Friday, several U.S. media outlets cited official sources saying that Chinese Communist hackers may have gained access to the mobile phone data of Republican presidential candidate Trump and his running mate, Pence, through compromising the U.S. telecommunications system.
Sources said that investigators are working to determine which communication data (if compromised) hackers accessed or saw through complex telecom systems.
Officials stated that the Trump campaign team learned this week that phone numbers of both internal and external members of the team, including Trump and Pence, became targets of hackers attempting to infiltrate Verizon phone systems.
A source informed CNN that this is part of a broader network espionage operation by China targeting top American officials, including high-ranking members of the Biden administration.
The Chinese government has denied these allegations.
With less than two weeks remaining until the U.S. election, intelligence agencies have reported that China has targeted at least 10 congressional, state, or local elections through covert social media activities.