At least 8 US telecoms firms, dozens of nations hit by China hacking, White House says
The US believes the hackers were able to gain access to communications of senior US government officials and prominent political figures
A top White House official on Wednesday said at least eight US telecoms firms and dozens of nations have been affected by a Chinese hacking campaign.
Deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger offered new details about the breadth of the sprawling Chinese hacking campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans.
Neuberger divulged the scope of the hack a day after the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued guidance intended to help root out the hackers and prevent similar cyberespionage in the future. White House officials cautioned that the number of telecommunication firms and countries affected could still grow.
The US believes that the hackers were able to gain access to communications of senior US government officials and prominent political figures through the hack, Neuberger said.
“We don’t believe any classified communications has been compromised,” Neuberger added during a call with reporters.
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China denies accusations of state-sponsored hacking from US, UK and New Zealand
She noted that because the hack appeared to be targeting a relatively small group of individuals, only a small number of Americans’ phone calls and texts have been compromised. Neuberger added that affected companies are all responding, but none “have fully removed the Chinese actors from these networks”.
