WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday that the FBI was in possession of his phone after he received a message from someone impersonating Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“I get a message, I think, from Schumer,” Graham, R-S.C., said during a panel discussion about artificial intelligence regulations at The Hill and Valley Forum. “It ain’t from Schumer.”
“And the next thing you know, my phone is — ” he trailed off. “I don’t know. Anything you can create apparently can be hacked.”
Graham’s comments took place during a forum frequented by members of Congress and technology experts.
Graham’s office did not say whether it was a call or text message that resulted in issues with the senator’s phone. His office also declined to say what kind of phone Graham owns.
“The Sergeant at Arms is investigating a possible hack of Senator Graham’s phone,” the senator’s spokesperson Taylor Reidy told NBC News in a statement.
The FBI declined to comment and referred NBC News to Graham’s office.
Neither the U.S. Capitol Police nor Schumer’s office immediately responded to requests for comment.
Lawmakers’ phones have previously been targeted, and in March the Treasury Department banned a company that develops a software which can turn a phone into a surveillance device. The software had been deployed against Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., according to an Amnesty International report.
A year earlier, members of Congress were impacted by a health insurance-related data breach, where personal information appeared on a hacker website.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
