Trump, Vance phones hacked

INTEL OFFICIALS' VIEW | Beijing targeting candidates from both parties based on its stance on issues of key importance, including support for Taiwan

Chinese hackers engaged in a broader espionage operation targeted cell phones used by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, his running mate, JD Vance, and people associated with the Democratic campaign of Kamala Harris, The New York Times quoted people familiar with the matter as saying. It is unclear how much information, if any, may have been compromised.

The Department of Justice and the FBI declined to comment on whether candidates were targeted, the BBC said. It was not immediately clear what data, if any, may have been accessed. US officials are continuing to investigate, according to the people, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing inquiry and spoke on the condition of anonymity to the Associated Press. An FBI statement did not confirm the identities of any of the potential targets but said it was investigating "unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure by actors affiliated with the People's Republic of China". "Agencies across the US government are collaborating to aggressively mitigate this threat and are coordinating with our industry partners to strengthen cyber defenses across the commercial communications sector," the FBI said.