China-linked hacking group targets phones belonging to Trump family, Biden aides: report
Hackers associated with China have reportedly targeted members of former President Trump’s family, according to a new report about the massive data breach that is still being investigated.
On Oct. 25, federal officials confirmed that hackers associated with the Chinese government’s intelligence services broke into U.S. telecommunications company systems. Last week, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal found that the hackers accessed cellphones used by former President Trump, his running mate, JD Vance, and members of Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign.
But on Tuesday, the Times reported that Eric Trump and Jared Kushner were also targeted, as well as some of President Biden’s aides.
In a report published later on Tuesday, CNN quoted a source who claimed that the scope of the breach is “”way worse than the public knows.”
“It’s real-time wiretapping,” an anonymous source said to CNN. “They flat-out hacked the system that the Department of Justice requires [telecommunications firms] to maintain for lawful access.”
Eric Trump provided a statement to both outlets blaming the Harris-Biden administration for the breach.
“Does this surprise anyone? Under Kamala and Biden, China has walked all over our country,” Eric Trump’s statement read.
In response to the reports, the Trump campaign told Fox News Digital that the White House’s “dangerous and violent rhetoric has given permission to those who wish to harm President Trump.”
“They have now stood by and allowed major foreign adversaries to attack us in order to illegally help Kamala because they know she represents a weak American who will always bow down,” Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung claimed. “Whereas, President Trump will actually stand up against our enemies and defend the United States from any and all aggression.”
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The Times reported that the list of targeted individuals is less than 100 people, but the nature of the data that was accessed by the hackers is still unknown.
On Oct. 25, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said that it was investigating “the unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by actors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China.”
“The investigation is ongoing, and we encourage any organization that believes it might be a victim to engage its local FBI field office or CISA,” the statement read.
“Agencies across the U.S. Government are collaborating to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defenses across the commercial communications sector.”
Last week, Verizon said that it was aware of a “highly sophisticated nation-state actor” targeting providers.
“Along with federal law enforcement, industry peers and third-party cyber experts, we are working to confirm, assess and remediate any potential impact,” the company said. “Verizon is committed to assisting law enforcement in this investigation. Since this is an active investigation, we have no additional comment at this time.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Eric Trump for additional comment. Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI for additional information, but the agency declined to comment.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson, David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.