US officials still working to evict Chinese hackers from major US telecom networks

US officials are still trying to help major telecom providers evict Chinese government-backed hackers from their networks and don’t have a timeline for when that will be done, officials said Tuesday.

US officials are still trying to help major telecom providers evict Chinese government-backed hackers from their networks and don’t have a timeline for when that will be done, officials said Tuesday. “We’re still figuring out just how deeply and where they’ve penetrated, so until we have a complete picture, it’s hard to know the exact parameters of how to kick them off,” a senior official with the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) told reporters. “Most [telecom] providers are still working to illuminate the full extent of the PRC activity,” a senior FBI official added, using an acronym for the Chinese government. The alleged Chinese hackers have gone after the phone communications of senior US political figures such as President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, CNN has previously reported. The hacking effort has roiled Washington and is already shaping up to be a top national security challenge facing the incoming Trump administration. The telecom companies that have worked the longest with federal officials are the furthest along in evicting the hackers, the FBI and CISA officials said. Verizon and AT&T are among the major telecom carriers targeted by the hackers, CNN previously reported. The FBI began investigating the Chinese hacking activity in late spring or early summer this year, the senior FBI official said in the most detailed update yet from the bureau on the espionage campaign.