Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) revealed on Oct. 31 that his phone had been hacked by Chinese entities. During an episode of the “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Vance disclosed that Chinese hackers had breached his cellphone, although most of his messages were encrypted using third-party apps like Signal.
According to Vance, the hackers were unable to access the encrypted messages that were sent. This revelation came shortly after the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a joint statement acknowledging an investigation into unauthorized access to commercial telecommunications infrastructure.
Vance claimed that the China-based hackers exploited his phone using back-end infrastructure originally created for the Patriot Act and FISA Section 702. The Epoch Times could not independently verify Vance’s claims, and the CISA declined to comment on the matter.
Vance also expressed his belief that former President Donald Trump’s phone had been hacked by Chinese actors. He mentioned that authorities had informed him that the breach was part of a larger Chinese effort known as “Salt Typhoon,” which aimed to infiltrate and exploit U.S. infrastructure.
Another similar effort known as Volt Typhoon has been associated with a Chinese hacking group that successfully infiltrated numerous U.S. systems, including critical infrastructure like water and air traffic control systems.
This information surfaced during a hotly contested presidential race marked by frequent foreign interference from cyber groups in China, Russia, and Iran. It was the second known hack of the Trump campaign, following an Iranian phishing attack in August, where hackers linked to Tehran infiltrated a campaign member’s account and leaked the data to the press and the Biden administration.
“We do have a real problem,” Vance emphasized.
