T-Mobile US, one of the leading telecom operators in the United States, was reportedly among several U.S. and international telecommunications companies targeted in a significant Chinese cyber-espionage operation, news report in The Wall Street Journal said.
Hackers linked to a Chinese intelligence agency allegedly breached the company’s network as part of a months-long campaign to spy on high-value intelligence targets.
The exact timeline of the attack remains unclear, and it is not certain what, if any, customer communication data was compromised.
A T-Mobile spokesperson told Reuters that the company is “closely monitoring this industry-wide attack,” and stated that, so far, there is no evidence of significant impacts on T-Mobile systems or customer information.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) confirmed on Wednesday that China-linked hackers intercepted surveillance data intended for American law enforcement by infiltrating the networks of multiple telecom companies.
This latest breach follows earlier reports in October that Chinese hackers accessed the networks of broadband providers such as Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen Technologies, extracting sensitive data related to government-authorized wiretapping.
Beijing has consistently denied allegations of state-sponsored hacking, claiming such accusations are baseless.