US officials have confirmed that at least eight major telecommunications providers in the country have been breached by Chinese hackers as part of a large-scale espionage campaign. The White House has revealed that no classified information was accessed during the breach, but senior politicians’ personal phone communications were targeted.
The hacking campaign, which affects dozens of countries worldwide, is believed to have started at least this summer and is still ongoing. US officials are working with telecom providers to evict Chinese-backed hackers from their networks, but a timeline for completion has not been set.
Verizon and AT&T were among the affected carriers. The FBI began investigating the incident in late spring and found that hackers stole bulk phone records, including where people communicated with whom, as well as call and text data for some individuals involved in politics or government.
China has denied involvement in the breach. US officials are concerned about ongoing security risks to communications due to the presence of Chinese actors on these networks.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/04/politics/us-telecom-providers-chinese-hack/index.html