Phone calls of US politicians caught in Chinese cyber-spy web

Chinese cyber-group Salt Typhoon got access to phone conversations of high-profile US political figures. Investigation shows that hackers tapped into calls of a former Trump campaign team member

October 27 2024 , 09:36 PM  •  5225 views

Phone calls of US politicians caught in Chinese cyber-spy web

A high-tech spy operation run by Chinese state-linked hackers managed to tap into phone conversations of US political figures (which includes a member from Trumps campaign team)

The cyber-group known as “Salt Typhoon“ – connected to Beijingʼs government – set up a wide-ranging phone surveillance system that started around spring-24. The hack lets them record audio from multiple phone calls but investigators dont know the full scope of collected data yet

The US government started a top-secret investigation after finding out about this cyber-breach: federal agents are trying to figure out how many calls were recorded and what info was stolen. The operation seems to be part of a bigger intel-gathering mission that targets American political figures

The discovery raises questions about phone security in high-level politics – especially since these state-backed hackers managed to bypass standard protection measures. Its unclear how many political figures had their calls intercepted but sources say the number could be significant