A catastrophic hack In early October, the problem with a backdoor to the AT&T, Lumen and Verizon networks was exposed. It pointed it out to me Apple’s stance against backdoors in iPhone encryption has once again been proven to be correct. Any form of hidden access to software or hardware can be exploited.
A state-sponsored hacking collective associated with China known as Salt Typhoon is believed to be responsible for the hack, although China has denied involvement.
Since early October, multiple reports have emerged indicating that the scope of the attack was far greater than breaching the networks of AT&T, Lumen, and Verizon through the wiretap access doors reserved for U.S. law enforcement.
The hackers may have been looking for expensive goalsincluding phones belonging to Donald Trump, JD Vance and people associated with Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
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More recent developments indicate that the hack may have targeted the iPhones belonging to senior, unnamed officials of the presidential campaign ahead of the US elections. It is unclear who these officials are and which side they worked on. The FBI is already investigating the hack.
According to Forbesa cybersecurity expert involved in protecting officials’ devices in these campaigns detailed the FBI’s investigation. The agency wants to determine whether the Chinese hack of US telecom networks was used to infect iPhones with malware.
Rocky Cole, the founder of mobile security startup iVerify, shared Forbes that his company discovered anomalous behavior on two iPhones of high-ranking campaign officials.
iVerify detected iPhone settings changed “in patterns not observed on healthy devices.” Cole said previous mobile malware, developed by state-sponsored hackers, changed settings in the same way.
“That does not mean the devices were definitively compromised, but this information, combined with the ownership of the devices and the timelines of events, was enough to warrant a robust investigation, which is still ongoing,” he said. Cole.
The FBI confirmed to Cole that one of the affected iPhones belonged to a Salt Typhoon target. The timeline of the anomalous behavior on the iPhone matched the hack of Verizon’s network.
Cole’s company was tasked with protecting government officials’ iPhones through his work with the nonpartisan nonprofit Defending Digital Campaigns. This entity provides candidates and employees with free access to cybersecurity tools. Cole is a former NSA analyst and Google employee.
That said, it’s unclear whether the iPhone hack was successful. iPhones are strongly protected against hacks and malware. The data on it is encrypted. But we have seen sophisticated malware hacks in the past that targeted high-ranking individuals. These are expensive to obtain and usually involve hacking groups significant resources. Nation states like China are usually associated with such attacks.
iPhone Messages app. Image source: José Adorno for BGR
Had the attackers been successful in the iPhone hack that targeted senior presidential campaign officials, they could have gained access to critical information. It’s one thing to breach a network like Verizon, but quite another to hack into an iPhone. This latest exploit would give hackers access to private information, including files.
Most importantly, they would be able to access communication apps, assuming full access to the entire contents of the iPhone was obtained. They could inspect call history and text chains in encrypted apps like iMessage, Signal and WhatsApp. They could also obtain real-time location information.
Worse yet, a successful attack could open the doors for similar attacks targeting US government officials in the future.
The report notes that none of the US parties involved have commented on the matter. That’s Apple, Verizon and the FBI. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington denied that China was behind the hacks.
While law enforcement agencies may not want to comment publicly on the extent of these hacks, they will hopefully provide more information in due course. This is the kind of breach that requires further explanation.
Next to the Forbes story, take a look The Wall Street Journal reporting on the telecom hacks, including the targeting of presidential campaigns.
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