The personal phone of Susie Wiles, the U.S. President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, was allegedly hacked, with the individual responsible obtaining access to a bevy of contacts, including high-profile officials. According to the latest report, a federal probe has been launched, but there is no confirmation on how the phone was compromised in the first place.
The contacts present in Susie Wiles’ phone grew suspicious after the impersonator asked to move the conversation to Telegram, risking the leaking of sensitive information
Shortly after gaining access to the White House chief of staff’s personal phone, the hackers leveraged AI to impersonate Wiles’ likeness and sent multiple contacts voice and text messages from a different number. It was only after the person or persons on the other end recommended continuing the conversation to a private platform like Telegram that the contacts realized that something was off. FBI Director Kash Patel shared the following statement with CBS News regarding the incident.
“The FBI takes all threats against the President, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness; safeguarding our administration officials’ ability to securely communicate to accomplish the President’s mission is a top priority.”
As for how Wiles’ phone was compromised, TechCrunch asked White House spokesperson Anna Kelly if a cloud account associated with the chief of staff’s device was compromised, or if her handset was a part of a more sophisticated attack involving government-grade spyware. Unfortunately, the outlet did not receive a meaningful response, suggesting that the investigation is still ongoing.
This is the second incident in which Wiles has been targeted by hackers, with the first instance transpiring in 2024, when it was reported that Iranian cyber-espionage experts attempted to obtain access to her personal email account. A separate report claims that these individuals were successful in bypassing the security as they obtained a dossier on Vice President JD Vance, who was Donald Trump’s running mate at the time.
Going over a few images, we realized that the U.S. President’s chief of staff is currently in possession of an iPhone, which should cause even more concern because Apple prides itself on its robust security and privacy.
News Source: The Wall Street Journal
