How China targeted top UK officials by hacking into their phones for years

China ‘hacked the mobile phones of senior Downing Street officials for years’, exposing private communications to Beijing, it’s been revealed. According to Telegraph, State-sponsored Chinese hackers reportedly targeted the phones of the closest aides to Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson between 2021 and 2024. One source said the breach went “right into the heart of Downing Street” – suggesting the prime minister’s phones could have been compromised. Intelligence sources in the US told The Telegraph that the espionage operation, known as Salt Typhoon, was ongoing. Chinese spies may have been able to read text messages or listen to calls involving senior members of the government. They may have also accessed metadata, revealing who officials were in contact with and their geolocation. This comes as Sir Keir Starmer will travel to China on Tuesday for the first prime ministerial visit to the country in eight years. The visit follows the approval of China’s ‘super-embassy’ on the banks of the Thames – approval which saw concerns flagged over the security risks posed by such a project. Alicia Kearns, a shadow minister for national security, said: : “How much more evidence does this Government need before it ends its simpering to Xi and stands tall as the great country we are and defends us? “Labour is rewarding hostile acts against our state.” The data breaches go back to at least 2021, but intelligence agencies discovered them only in 2024. Salt Typhoon was exposed when the US found that hacking groups linked to Beijing had gained access to telecommunications companies around the world. Ms Neuberger, who was deputy US national security adviser at the time, said hackers could “record phone calls at will”. Chinas foreign ministry has previously said the claims were baseless and lacking evidence. Intelligence sources told The Telegraph that telecommunications networks in Britain were better protected than those in the US. They said the UK had been more on the ball about network security. The sources cited the 2021 Telecommunications Security Act, which introduced new legal duties on the firms to strengthen UK network’s security. The FBI warned publicly last year that Chinese “state-sponsored cyber threat actors” were targeting global networks. The advisory said the stolen data “ultimately can provide Chinese intelligence services with the capability to identify and track their targets communications and movements around the world”. It added that foreign actors often maintain persistent, long-term access to networks.  The post How China targeted top UK officials by hacking into their phones for years appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.