Latest US telecom hack from China may have affected thousands

In October, the FBI and CISA confirmed that they were investigating a potential hack of telecommunications infrastructure in the US. The hack sought private data from presidential candidates and close staff. However, a new report claims that hackers enabled “vast spying” from vulnerable telecom equipment, potentially affecting thousands of Americans.

Chinese telecom hackers reportedly enabled “vast spying,” potentially affecting thousands of Americans

Following confirmation by US authorities, a report by The New York Times revealed that the main target of the hack was the phones of Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Kamala Harris’ campaign staff. According to investigators, the Chinese hacking group is known as “Salt Typhoon.” They may have gained access to call and SMS records in their search for confidential data.

The Wall Street Journal now reports that the spying may have affected “potentially thousands of Americans.” According to the source, the hacking group could be linked to a Chinese intelligence agency. Plus, the breach’s scope may have extended beyond the campaign staff of US politicians. It could have affected all those who were ever in contact with them at some point. The spying could have lasted for about eight months, the report states.

Calls and SMS logs of thousands of people would have been at the mercy of hackers

Salt Typhoon appears to have focused exclusively on high-profile US politicians and close staff. However, the methods they used gave them “the ability to access the phone data of virtually any American who is a customer of a compromised carrier — a group that includes AT&T and Verizon.” Basically, the hacking group compromised specific routers from which they had access to telecommunications records of any mobile device with an antenna that connected to it.

It’s noteworthy that the report does not claim that the data of thousands of users was stolen by the hackers. However, it was entirely within the group’s power to do so if they wanted to, which is worrying news. AT&T has already confirmed data breach incidents in the recent past. So, another one could damage even more its brand image. There is still no official word on the matter from either of the two mobile carriers involved.