Chinese hackers have infiltrated at least 8 U.S. telecom companies, White House says

journalism at the Arizona state school of journalism. -- At Arizona state university. Geoff: The white house said a Chinese hacking operation had infiltrated eight American companies and that none had managed to remove these Chinese hackers from their systems.

Nick schifrin has been following this. Nick: The white house gave new details on what is believed to be the largest hack on American telecommunications firms in U. S.

History. As you said, Chinese hackers infiltrated at least eight communications firms in the United States and over the last one to two years, dozens of tele-communications companies across Asia and Europe, and the hack was ongoing. The deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology has more.

>> The affected companies are all responding. There is a risk of ongoing compromises to communications. Until U.

S. Companies address the cybersecurity gaps, the Chinese are likely to maintain their access. Nick: Intelligence officials were on the hill briefing for 100 senators in a classified hearing about Chinese hackers and our Lisa Desjardins cut up a Texas Republican John Cornyn.

>> The Chinese communist party has infiltrated telecommunications systems here in the United States in a dramatic and unprecedented sort of way, and it is a subject of tremendous concern. I'm sure you'll hear more about it because it affects a lot of people. Not just in this country, but around the world.

>> Yesterday a senior FBI official admitted the bureau still did not know how deeply Chinese attackers had penetrated even though they had been investigating since spring. It could take years to know the true scope of the hack. Geoff: Do we know has been targeted?

Nick: Intelligence officials describe three groups. One, a large number of users whose phone metadata was stolen. Two, a small group of individuals whose audio calls and text messages were targeted and successfully intercepted.

Number three, the portal law enforcement uses for phone companies and internet providers. A senior official said today a large number of Americans fell in the first category but would not provide the number but that it had a regional focus. Members of the second group whose calls were intercepted include senior members of the trump and Harris campaigns.

A former intelligence official described to me that this is so hard because it is sophisticated state actors with limitless budget and time. They are difficult to detect because they entered the network with stolen credentials. If they detect surveillance by Americans, they simply stopped moving.

They can sit there and take as long as it takes, therefore avoiding detection. Geoff: How has China responded? Nick: A Chinese official told me that the U.

S. Claims were "Disinformation" and told me China combats all kinds of cyber attacks and that the U. S.

Needs to stop its own cyber attacks against other countries and refrain from using its own cybersecurity to slam and frame China. U. S.

Officials use the term surveillance because this is not designed, as far as they can tell, to destroy any critical infrastructure. It is instead designed to conduct espionage to collect information. No signs that any of this is being used online.

The only solution was to require companies to meet minimum cybersecurity guidelines. Right now, those guidelines are optional for these companies. Geoff: Thank you for that reporting.

Appreciate it. Nick: Thank you.