WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - A Chinese hack compromised

even more U.S. telecoms than previously known, including Charter

Communications ( CHTR ), Consolidated Communications

and Windstream, the Wall Street Journal reported late on

Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Hackers also exploited unpatched network devices from

security vendor Fortinet and compromised large network routers

from Cisco Systems ( CSCO ), the newspaper reported.

In addition to deep intrusions into AT&T ( T ) and Verizon

, hackers pierced other networks belonging to Lumen

Technologies ( LUMN ) and T-Mobile, according to the

report.

China denied engaging in such actions and accused the United

States of peddling disinformation.

There is growing concern about the size and scope of the

reported Chinese hacking into U.S. telecommunications networks

and questions about when companies and the government will be

able to assure Americans about the issue.

The report added that U.S. national security adviser Jake

Sullivan told telecommunications and technology executives at a

secret White House meeting in the fall of 2023 that Chinese

hackers had gained the ability to shut down dozens of U.S.

ports, power grids and other infrastructure targets at will.

The Chinese-linked Salt Typhoon cyberespionage operation

targeted AT&T ( T ) and Verizon's systems, but the wireless carriers'

U.S. networks are now secure as they work with law enforcement

and government officials, the companies said last week in their

first acknowledgment of the attacks.

Lumen said it no longer sees evidence of the attackers in

its network and that no customer data was accessed. T-Mobile

said it stopped recent attempts to infiltrate its systems from

advancing and protected sensitive customer information from

being accessed, according to the Journal.

Verizon told the newspaper that a small number of

high-profile customers in government and politics were

specifically targeted by a threat actor and that those people

had been notified.

Vandana Venkatesh, chief legal officer at Verizon, told the

newspaper that "Verizon has contained the activities associated

with this particular incident."

Cisco ( CSCO ) and Fortinet declined to comment to the newspaper.

Targets of Salt Typhoon have previously reportedly included

officials connected to Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican

Donald Trump's presidential campaigns.