Chinese hackers stole large amounts of Americans' phone data from eight telecoms, officials say

Source: NBC News

Dec. 4, 2024, 5:53 PM EST


A Chinese hacking campaign that has spied on the texts and calls of U.S. citizens by hacking telecommunications companies is significantly larger than previously known to the public, a top White House official said Wednesday.

At least eight American telecommunications companies have been compromised, Anne Neuberger, a deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology at the National Security Council, said in a press call Wednesday. U.S. officials had named three of the companies to NBC News: AT&T, Verizon and Lumen Technologies. The names of the other five companies are not known.

Neuberger said that “dozens of countries around the world” had been affected, and another official on the call said that hackers had accessed a large number of Americans’ phone data, though not everyone in the country, as part of an effort to identify people who could be likely targets for more invasive spying.

Advanced hacking teams can be persistent and lurk in remote corners of vast computer networks. The U.S. does not believe any of the U.S. telecoms have fully booted the hackers, Neuberger said. “There is a risk of ongoing compromises to communications until U.S. companies address the cybersecurity gaps. The Chinese are likely to maintain their access,” she said.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/chinese-hackers-stole-americans-phone-data-8-telecoms-us-officials-say-rcna182942