The FBI claims that China hacked Donald Trump’s family’s phones.

Recent reports have come in that China has hacked into the electronic devices belonging to several important people around Donald Trump, including his son, Eric Trump, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. All this hacking is happening at the most crucial juncture, right before an election, which becomes a very serious worry regarding personal and sensitive information.

With these developments, an investigation has been launched to determine the extent and nature of this hacking operation. The inquiry has since widened in scope, especially after it was found that Eric Trump and Jared Kushner were also victims of this cyber intrusion.

If indeed China has obtained access to the private communications and data of these people, it could certainly add significant knowledge for the intelligence operatives of China in relation to knowing whom they can penetrate with influence operations. The magnitude of this sophisticated hacking effort is worrisome in that it has reportedly affected fewer than 100 individuals. Among those hacked are members of the Trump family, as well as a number of individuals involved with the Kamala Harris campaign, several ambassadors, other government officials, policy analysts, and even an aide to Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader.

FBI agents investigating the hacks have asserted that evidence exists to prove audio communications might have been recorded in these hacks. There is also a fear that unencrypted text messages and call logs on some of the affected devices were exposed to the hackers—a serious invasion of privacy and security of those people whose devices have been compromised. Eric Trump has made public blame for this vulnerability of security on the Biden administration, claiming that such an administration allows China to cripple America’s position.

U.S. officials have conspicuously pinpointed “actors affiliated with” the Chinese government as responsible for this security breach. Salt Typhoon is the name given to the organization suspected, by Western cybersecurity experts, to have been employed in these attacks. The larger ramifications of this hacking operation, more than questions of privacy, are those about electoral process integrity and the wider security landscape in heating relations between the US and China.

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