Two Senior Presidential Campaign Officials Allegedly Hacked By Chinese Group Through IPhone

Illustration of the Chinese hacker group, Salt Typhoon. (photo: x @gmehok)

JAKARTA - The FBI is investigating the alleged hacking of the iPhone belonging to two senior presidential campaign officials by Chinese hacker group Salt Typhoon. The investigation follows a report from cybersecurity startup iVeify, who identified suspicious activity on the two iPhones belonging to the senior officials.

According to a report from Forbes, iVerify discovered regulatory changes in two iPhone devices that show unusual patterns. This incident is related to hacking US telecommunications networks that occurred last October, where AT&T and Verizon networks were compromised through an eavesdropping portal previously used by law enforcement to gather crime-related information.

Salt Typhoon, which allegedly had access to the portal for several months, may have exploited this loophole to launch hacking of the two iPhone devices. The FBI said that one of the targets of this attack had been targeted by Salt Typhoon in recent times.

This case sparked concerns over the existence of an wiretapping portal that has been built by law since 1994. A number of parties believe that this loophole could be exploited by bad actors, similar to the backdoor risk in encryption.

Further investigations are still ongoing to reveal the hacking method used and its potential impact on the personal data of the officials.