Officials Confirm: Chinese Hackers Stole Large Volumes Of U.S. Phone Data

A Chinese hacking campaign that infiltrated U.S. telecommunications companies to spy on the texts and calls of American citizens is significantly broader than previously disclosed, a senior White House official said, Kevin Collier reported for NBC News.

Three of the compromised companies named were AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Tech. I Photo: Lumen Technologies Facebook

At least eight U.S. telecommunications companies have been compromised, according to Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Adviser for Cyber and Emerging Technology at the National Security Council (NSC).

Neuberger named three of the companies—AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Tech—but withheld the names of the other five.

She also revealed that “dozens of countries around the world” had been affected. Another U.S. official stated that hackers accessed a large volume of Americans' phone data as part of an effort to identify individuals who could be targeted for more invasive espionage.

“We don’t believe any classified communications have been compromised,” Neuberger assured during a press call. Aamer Madhani and David Klepper of the Associated Press and Raphael Satter of Reuters also reported on the incident.

The Chinese Embassy denied involvement, with spokesperson Liu Pengyu accusing the U.S. of using cybersecurity as a pretext to "smear and slander China." Liu urged the U.S. to cease its own alleged cyberattacks on other nations.