On January 27, according to a report from the UK’s “Daily Telegraph” citing sources from the US intelligence community, Chinese hackers had infiltrated the mobile phones of senior officials at the British Prime Minister’s office from 2021 to 2024, and related actions are said to be “ongoing”. This news was revealed just before British Prime Minister Stamer’s upcoming visit to China, making the timing particularly sensitive.
Reported by the “Daily Telegraph,” the mobile phones of core staff members of the three former British Prime Ministers, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak, were targeted by Chinese hackers, with some devices likely compromised.
These individuals are among the closest in the decision-making chain of the UK government, holding information including Cabinet meeting schedules, discussions on foreign policy, national security briefings, and sensitive communications with foreign governments.
The report emphasizes that it is not currently clear if the targets of the hacker attacks included the Prime Minister’s own phone, but one insider stated that these attacks have “penetrated the heart of Downing Street.”
The report mentions that these hacker attacks persisted for three years between 2021 and 2024, spanning a period of heightened tension in UK-China relations due to the Chinese crackdown on the democracy movement in Hong Kong, as well as a phase of strengthened cooperation between British and American intelligence agencies.
The content of the report is primarily based on statements from US intelligence sources. It emphasizes that these attacks were not isolated incidents but rather long-term, ongoing, and covert infiltration operations. US intelligence sources indicated that these espionage activities are “still ongoing,” raising concerns that current British Prime Minister Stamer and his team may also be affected.
These attacks raised the possibility that Chinese spies may have accessed texts or eavesdropped on calls of senior government members.
Even if the hackers were unable to listen in on calls, they could still have accessed metadata to learn about the contacts and frequency of communication of officials and aides around the Prime Minister, and even obtained their geolocation data.
These security vulnerabilities date back at least to 2021, but intelligence agencies did not detect them until 2024. At that time, it was revealed that Chinese hacker groups associated with the Chinese government had gained access to global telecommunications companies.
According to Anne Neuberger, former Deputy National Security Advisor under the US, the hackers also had the capability of “arbitrary recording.”
The report mentions that the attacks targeting officials at the British Prime Minister’s office were carried out by a Chinese state-sponsored hacker group called “Salt Typhoon”.
US officials have acknowledged that “Salt Typhoon” attempted to infiltrate the phones of then-candidate Trump, Vice President Pence, and Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris during the 2024 US presidential election campaign.
Dakota Cary, a researcher at the Global China Hub of the Atlantic Council, stated that “Salt Typhoon” focuses on the backends of telecommunication companies and networks to intercept communications between individuals. He mentioned the Chinese government’s continuous interest in acquiring political intelligence related to parliamentarians and British political decision-making.
Former Israeli intelligence chief Yuval Wollman described “Salt Typhoon” as one of the “most notorious names in the realm of cyber espionage”.
He added that while most public reports concentrate on US targets, the actions of “Salt Typhoon” have expanded to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, targeting telecommunication companies, government agencies, and technology firms.
Wollman further stated that these activities “are highly targeted and have been confirmed to result in data breaches in multiple regions, including critical infrastructure in the UK in 2023 and 2024”.
He mentioned that “Salt Typhoon” collected “communication routes and geolocation metadata from government and defense systems” through its global hacking activities.
Regarding the report from the “Daily Telegraph,” a former high-level official in the British government from 2021 to 2024 denied the allegations.
Speaking to the “Times,” this individual mentioned that China’s broader targeting of the UK’s telecommunications system had been well-known, and if government core areas were under surveillance by UK intelligence agencies, officials at the Prime Minister’s office would be aware.
Another source indicated that after the US government found that Chinese penetration had occurred in the US phone network, UK security agencies conducted an investigation into the security of the UK telecommunications network to see if Chinese hackers could penetrate it, but found no evidence of “Salt Typhoon” being successful in the UK.
Another individual who had previously worked in the UK central government stated that even if China managed to hack into officials’ or government ministers’ phones, they would not be able to access classified government information.
This person stated, “The rules are very clear, government officials should assume they are targets when using phones, so they should not discuss confidential or sensitive information. Any such information needs to be transmitted through secure government networks.”
The disclosure of the infiltration of former officials’ phones at the British Prime Minister’s office by Chinese hackers comes at a time when British Prime Minister Stamer is set to visit China. This will be the first visit to China by a British Prime Minister since 2018.
Last week, the UK Labor government, despite various objections, announced the approval for the construction of a super embassy in central London for China.
Alicia Kearns, the Shadow Cabinet Security Minister targeted by Chinese spy operations for her repeated criticism of China’s human rights record, stated, “How much evidence does this government need to stop fawning to Xi and stand up for our great nation? Labor is rewarding hostile behavior toward our country.”