Chinese Hackers Target Phones Related To Kamala Harris, Trump And Vance Campaigns Also Targeted

Presidential candidate from the Democratic Party, Kamala Harris. (photo: x @VP)

JAKARTA - Hackers from China have reportedly succeeded in infiltrating the Verizon system and targeting phones used by a number of parties affiliated with the campaign for a presidential candidate from the Democratic Party, Kamala Harris. This was revealed by a source familiar with the situation on Friday, October 25.

Media also reported that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his partner, JD Vance, were also targeted by this hack. The New York Times reports that investigators are trying to find out what communications Trump and Vance may have taken from in this incident.

Trump's campaign has been informed that Trump and Vance phones are among a number of parties from government and outside the government who were targeted for hacking via Verizon's phone system. However, Trump's campaign has not officially confirmed that Trump and Vance's phones are being targeted.

Trump's campaign communications director, Steven Cheung, stated that Vice President Harris had strengthened China and Iran's courage to attack US infrastructure to prevent Trump's return to the presidency.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in Washington confirmed that China was against any form of cyber attacks and cyber theft. "Presidential elections are a domestic matter of the United States. China has no intention of intervening in US elections," an embassy spokesman said.

The Harris campaign did not provide a response when asked for comment regarding this incident.

Previously, Trump's campaign was also hacked this year. The US Department of Justice has sued three members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps on charges of hacking on charges of attempt to disrupt elections on November 5.

The FBI and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) have stated that they are investigating unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure suspected of involving parties linked to China. Their joint statement did not mention who was the target in the incident.

Verizon stated that it was aware of sophisticated efforts to target US telecommunications and gather intelligence. As the largest telecommunications company in the US, Verizon said it was working with the authorities.