Chinese hackers reportedly breached phones at 'heart of Downing Street' in global spy campaign

Chinese state-linked hackers breached mobile phones astatine "the bosom of Downing Street" amid a planetary cyber-espionage run implicit respective years targeting telecommunication networks, according to reports.

U.S. officials archetypal alerted its allies successful 2024 aft uncovering retired that hacking groups had gained entree to telecom companies astir the world, according to The Associated Press.

The run reportedly targeted aggregate countries, including the U.S. and the different members of the Five Eyes quality alliance: Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The breaches allegedly gave China entree to the telephone information of millions and the imaginable quality to eavesdrop connected calls, work substance messages and way users’ locations.

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Chinese cyberattacks reportedly reached "the heart" of the U.K.'s Downing Street, a root told The Telegraph. (Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)

The hackers besides had the quality to grounds calls "at will" according to Anne Neuberger, who was a lawman U.S. nationalist information advisor betwixt January 2021 and January 2025, The Telegraph reported.

Neuberger said that the "Chinese gained entree to networks and fundamentally had wide and afloat access," giving them the capableness to "geolocate millions of individuals, to grounds telephone calls astatine will."

U.S. quality agencies judge the breaches day backmost to astatine slightest 2021, but they were lone identified and disclosed by U.S. authorities successful 2024.

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A root told The Telegraph that the breach went "right into the bosom of Downing Street." (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

In 2024, The Associated Press reported that U.S. national authorities urged telecommunication companies to boost web security. The guidance, issued by the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, was to assistance basal retired the hackers and forestall akin attacks successful the future.

A associated cybersecurity advisory was issued successful August 2025, with the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and allied partners informing that Chinese state-sponsored actors were targeting networks globally.

"The malicious enactment outlined successful the advisory partially overlaps with cybersecurity manufacture reporting connected Chinese state-sponsored menace actors referred to by names specified arsenic Salt Typhoon," an NSA merchandise said.

In the U.K., officials raised concerns that elder authorities figures whitethorn besides person been exposed. One root told The Telegraph that the breach went "right into the bosom of Downing Street."

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There were reportedly "many" hacking attacks connected phones crossed the British government, peculiarly nether the tenure of Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)

Similarly, The Telegraph was told that determination were "many" antithetic hacking attacks connected the phones of Downing Street unit and crossed wider government, particularly erstwhile Rishi Sunak was premier curate betwixt 2022 and 2024.

Yuval Wollman, a erstwhile Israeli quality chief, besides told The Telegraph that Salt Typhoon was "one of the astir salient names" successful the cyber-espionage world.

"While overmuch of the nationalist reporting has focused connected U.S. targets, Salt Typhoon’s operations person extended into Europe, the Middle East and Africa, wherever it has targeted telecoms firms, authorities entities and exertion companies," Wollman of cybersecurity level CyberProof added.

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In the past, China’s overseas ministry dismissed the claims arsenic "baseless" and "lacking evidence," according to The Telegraph.

Fox News Digital has reached retired to Downing Street for comment.