Shortly after Trump revealed that their data was illegally accessed and placed the blame on the Iranian bad actors, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that the United States' telecommunications infrastructure was the target of a massive access. The law enforcement agency regarded that these threat actors were affiliated with the People's Republic of China, with new reports claiming that the group 'Salt Typhoon' was behind it.
The massive hack against the US telco infrastructures was reportedly targeting high-profile individuals and their teams, with the likes of Donald Trump and President Joe Biden alongside other officials facing cyber issues.
FBI Links Chinese 'Salt Typhoon' to Large US Telco Attack
The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently shared a joint statement that detailed the recent attack against the country's commercial telecommunications infrastructure. The agencies believe that the bad actors behind the access are affiliated with the People's Republic of China (PRC), targeting devices that belong to renowned US politicians.
In an update from the New York Times, the report shared that the said hackers with China affiliations are called 'Salt Typhoon,' with the FBI and CISA's investigation still ongoing regarding this attack.
There were around 10 companies believed to have suffered from the attack by the Salt Typhoon, with the likes of AT&T and Verizon impacted. Verizon has reportedly confirmed that it is "aware" of this attack which targeted US telecommunications providers to "gather intelligence."
It was revealed that Salt Typhoon was able to access unencrypted SMS text messages from the devices they targeted, and it also included that the threat actors were able to capture audio communications, but it was unknown if these were cellular call conversations or voice mails.
Trump, Biden, US Government Officials Targeted
According to the report, Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Kamala Harris' staff members were targeted by the threat actors, but it was not revealed how much of their data were accessed.
That being said, it was later revealed that there were more victims from these attacks including Donald Trump's family, as well as Joe Biden's aides, with diplomats and other government officials also targeted.
Threats to US Elections, Government
During this present election season, cybersecurity experts and government agencies have issued warnings about the growing threats looming around, all looking to disrupt the United States' upcoming voting period. Reports claimed that it will be a new type of cyber threat as countries suspected of launching their attacks against the US like China and Russia will utilize AI to malign America.
There have been other believed attacks to be coming against the country earlier this year, with the White House and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issuing letters to governors of impending attacks. It was revealed that Iranian and Chinese hackers were suspected to be targeting the country's water systems which are notorious for lacking cybersecurity measures.
Most recently, Trump and his campaign were allegedly the targets of Iranian attacks, with the two assassination attempts against the nominee and the hack against his operations prompting them to adopt new cybersecurity measures. Now, the FBI revealed that the recent massive telco infrastructure attack was done by China-affiliated actors, targeting high-profile politicians and US officials.
