Espionage attack

T-Mobile US infiltrated by Chinese hackers

The US mobile carrier is said to have been infiltrated as part of a months-long campaign.

(Bild: APA/AP/Michael Dwyer)

The T-Mobile US network has become the target of an extensive Chinese hacker attack. "T-Mobile is closely monitoring this industry-wide attack. To date, T-Mobile's systems and data have not been significantly compromised, and there is no evidence of any impact on customer information," a spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal.

According to the newspaper, the attackers managed to penetrate several telecommunications companies in the USA and internationally. This was reported by people familiar with the matter. Hackers linked to a Chinese intelligence agency infiltrated T-Mobile US as part of a months-long campaign to spy on the cell phone communications of high-level intelligence targets, the paper reported.

It is unclear what information, if any, was stolen about T-Mobile customers' call and communications data, the report said.

Just last Wednesday, the FBI and the US cybersecurity agency CISA announced that hackers with links to China had intercepted surveillance data intended for American law enforcement agencies.

In early October, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese hackers had penetrated the networks of US broadband providers, including Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies, and obtained information from systems used by the US government for court-authorized wiretaps.

Beijing has previously denied allegations by the US government and others that it used hackers to penetrate foreign computer systems.