Chinese-Linked Hack Breaches US Telecom Sector as Election Threats Mount

Hackers linked to the Chinese Communist Party have breached the United States’ commercial telecommunications sector, according to federal agencies, which are “aggressively” working to mitigate the harm, while unconfirmed reports suggest that former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), may be among those targeted.
The two agencies said that affected companies have been notified and provided with technical assistance to minimize the effects of the cyber intrusion.
“Agencies across the U.S. Government are collaborating to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defenses across the commercial communications sector,” CISA and the FBI stated.
The Mint Sandstorm cyberattack, involving spear-phishing emails, was confirmed by the Trump campaign, which attributed the breach to “foreign sources hostile to the United States.” At the time, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung pointed to the incident as further evidence of foreign interference, describing the attack as part of broader attempts to disrupt the democratic process and influence the 2024 election.
The Epoch Times could not independently confirm the reports.
In response to an inquiry about the reports that Trump’s and Vance’s devices had been breached, the Trump campaign issued a sharp rebuke, framing the breach as part of a broader effort by Democrats to interfere with the 2024 presidential election.
“This is the continuation of election interference by Kamala Harris and Democrats who will stop at nothing, including emboldening China and Iran attacking critical American infrastructure, to prevent President Trump from returning to the White House,“ Cheung told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. ”Their dangerous and violent rhetoric has given permission to those who wish to harm President Trump.”
According to The Associated Press, the Chinese hackers also targeted “people associated with the Democratic campaign of Kamala Harris.” The Harris campaign did not respond by publication time to a request for comment on Cheung’s remarks.
The assessment indicates that the most common type of election-related influence operation by foreign adversaries involves social media posts, some of which are likely to be enhanced or entirely generated by artificial intelligence.
However, the National Intelligence Council memo indicates that operations targeting official vote counts or election processes themselves are “less likely” because they are more difficult to carry out and could risk U.S. retaliation.