 "Republican presidential candidate former US President Donald Trump, left, and Republican vice presidential candidate Senator JD Vance, R-Ohio, attend the Republican National Convention, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. File Image/AP")
Chinese hackers have targeted personal cell phones of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance, according to a report.
The Chinese hackers targeted Trump and Vance’s phones as part of their infiltration of US telecommunication networks, which was reported earlier this month.
Weeks after the Chinese infiltration came to the fore, the New York Times has reported that Trump and Vance’s phones were targeted in the attack investigators are currently determining if hackers managed to access any or what data from the devices.
This is second time that the Trump campaign has been subjected to cyberattacks. Previously, the Trump campaign was subjected to Iranian cyberattacks.
Even though Trump and Vance appear to be the most prominent persons targeted so far, The Times reported that the Chinese infiltration extends beyond the 2024 presidential election campaign as multiple people are said to be targeted, suggesting the cyberattack could have far-reaching implications for US national security.
What we know so far of cyberattack on Trump, Vance
Earlier this week, the authorities informed the Trump campaign that Trump and Vance were among the targeted through the infiltration of Verizon phone systems, according to The Times.
The newspaper further reported that Trump and Vance were among a number of people both inside and outside of the government who were targeted in this manner.
It was not immediately clear what the hackers accessed or were seeking to access, as per the newspaper.
Earlier this month, it was reported cyber criminals linked to the Chinese government infiltrated into US telecommunication providers networks and possibly accessed information from systems that the US federal government uses for court-authorised tapping.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe Wall Street Journal reported that the networks infiltrated included Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies.
In simpler words, there exist backdoors of sorts in telecommunication companies’ networks that allow the US federal government to tap people’s communications after court authorisation for criminal and national security purposes. The US law says companies have to cooperate with law enforcement agencies if court authorises such tapping. To enable the government to tap, backdoors are built into telecommunication networks. It is such backdoors that Chinese hackers were said to have got into.
Why would China target Trump, Vance?
Access to phones of presidential nominee and their running mate are bound to be a gold mine for anyone.
Not only could hackers collect strategies related to their campaigns but they could also gather damaging information that they could later use as bargaining chip in arm-twisting the candidates.
Even if nothing too secret is found or even if the content of messages is read, even information about who all the candidate is in close contact can be valuable. This would tell the hacker and their patrons who are in the candidates’ inner circles and whom they should target to influence the candidates’ campaign and thinking.