Hackers aligned with Vietnam tried to use social media platforms X and Facebook to install spyware on the phones of dozens of high-profile targets, including US lawmakers, United Nations officials and CNN journalists, Amnesty International said Monday.
The powerful hacking tool – designed to siphon off call and text data from phones – was aimed at social media accounts affiliated with Democratic Sens. Gary Peters and Chris Murphy, and Republican congressman and House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, according to Amnesty investigators. Multiple CNN journalists who cover East Asian affairs were also targeted. A CNN spokesperson declined to comment. The researchers said they were unaware of any successful infections using the spyware.
Office staffers were not affected, either, Shedd said. An aide to Murphy told CNN: “To the best of our knowledge, no one in our office clicked the link.” The Vietnamese embassy in Washington, DC, not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Peters did not immediately respond to a request for comment. For years, cybersecurity researchers and human rights activists have documented the proliferation of spyware designed to break into mobile phones and steal their contents.
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