Chinese Hackers Target Verizon, Associated Phones

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Chinese hackers who infiltrated Verizon's systems aimed at phones linked to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, according to a source on Friday.

Reports indicate that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, were also targeted, although Reuters could not verify these claims.

The New York Times mentioned that investigators are trying to ascertain what communications, if any, were accessed from Trump and Vance. The Trump campaign was informed this week about the targeting of various individuals, including those in government, through the breach of Verizon's systems, as reported by the Times.

The Trump campaign has not confirmed whether the phones of Trump and Vance were specifically targeted. Their communications director, Steven Cheung, accused Vice President Harris of having emboldened China and Iran to attack U.S. infrastructure to hinder Trump's bid for re-election.

No immediate response was received from China’s embassy in Washington or the Harris campaign regarding these allegations.

Earlier this year, the Trump campaign itself faced a hacking incident. The U.S. Justice Department charged three members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, alleging they attempted to disrupt the upcoming Nov. 5 election.

On Friday, the FBI and U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced they were investigating unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure linked to individuals affiliated with China. However, they did not specify the incident's targets.

Verizon acknowledged a sophisticated attempt aimed at U.S. telecoms to gather intelligence and stated it is cooperating with law enforcement.