A US investigation into Chinese government efforts to hack into US telecommunications networks has revealed a “broad and significant” cyberespionage campaign aimed at stealing information from people who work in government and politics, the FBI said on Wednesday.
Hackers affiliated with Beijing have compromised the networks of “multiple” telecommunications companies to obtain customer call records and gain access to the private communications of “a limited number of individuals,” the FBI and the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a joint statement.
The FBI did not identify any of the individuals targeted by the hackers, but said that most of them “are primarily involved in government or political activity.”
Photo: AP
The hackers also sought to copy “certain information that was subject to US law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders,” the FBI said, suggesting that the hackers might have been trying to compromise programs like those subject to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which grants US spy agencies powers to surveil the communications of people suspected of being agents of a foreign power.
The warning comes after several high-profile hacking incidents that US authorities have linked to China, part of what they say is an effort to steal technological and government information, while also targeting vital infrastructure such as the electrical grid.
Officials are working with the telecommunications industry and people affected by hacking to shore up defenses against continuing attempts at cyberespionage, the statement said.
“We expect our understanding of these compromises to grow,” it said.
China has rejected accusations by US officials that it engages in cyberespionage directed against Americans.
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