The National Security Agency is investigating the Chinese hack of 3 telecommunications companies

WASHINGTON (TND) – The National Security Agency is investigating a hack involving three major telecommunications firms; AT&T, Verizon and Lumen Technologies.

David Hyde, a professor of computer science at Vanderbilt University, said that based on information shared so far, some of the nation's largest telecommunications providers appear to have suffered a breach.

This is due to malicious actors that are currently believed to be linked to Chinese state-sponsored hacking groups,” Hyde said.

Hackers may be trying to access systems used by the federal government for court-authorized electronic surveillance, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

“This is particularly bad given that the traffic that these attackers were able to see could in principle have some strong ties to the activities of the US intelligence and law enforcement community,” Hyde said.

Milos Manic, director of Virginia Commonwealth University's cybersecurity program, said telecommunications companies are typically prime targets for hackers because of the data stored.

Companies like this are reaching targets because they have a lot of very sensitive data,” Manick said.

As for what was potentially stolen, Manick said he wouldn't speculate right away, not much is being shared.

“It is not in the interest of national security to release the details,” Manick said.

A spokesman for China's embassy in Washington responded to the allegations, saying in a statement that the US intelligence community and cyber security agencies were spreading confusion.