The announcement comes after the FBI allegedly targeted mobile phones used by Donald Trump and JD Vance.

US officials say they have uncovered a “vast and significant” cyber-espionage campaign by hackers linked to China to steal information about Americans working in government and politics.

The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a joint statement on Wednesday that Beijing-linked actors “compromised the networks of several telecommunications companies”.

The agencies said the hack enabled “data theft of customer call records” and compromised “the private communications of a limited number of individuals”.

The FBI and CISA did not specify which individuals were targeted but said they were “primarily involved in government or political activities”.

The hackers “also gained access to information that was subject to requests by US law enforcement agencies pursuant to court orders,” the agencies said, adding that they had targeted programs under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). tried to compromise, which gives broad powers to spy agencies. Contacts of suspected foreign agents.

The FBI and CISA said they expect “their understanding of these compromises will increase as the investigation continues”.

The announcement follows a series of high-profile hacking incidents that Washington has described as part of a broader strategy by Beijing to steal technology and government data, as well as target critical infrastructure in the United States.

In September, the FBI said it had uncovered a far-reaching Chinese hacking campaign called FlexTyphoon.

The campaign involved the installation of malicious software on more than 200,000 consumer devices – including cameras, video recorders, and routers used in homes and offices – which were then infected to facilitate cybercrime. The computers were used to create a network, according to US officials.

Last month, the FBI said it had opened an investigation into alleged Chinese hacking. Mobile phones Used by then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance.

The hackers, who reportedly also targeted people associated with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, reportedly penetrated the network of US mobile phone provider Verizon.

The FBI and CISA did not clarify whether the recent hacking efforts were connected to those earlier campaigns.