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Suspicious cell activity suggests monitoring of US officials

WASHINGTON — With ongoing discussions of foreign hacking and wiretapping come new concerns over an unusually high amount of suspicious cellphone activity in the nation’s capital.

A telecom security company, ESD America, which has been hired by the U.S. government, says the suspicious activity likely indicates a foreign nation is monitoring the smartphones of American officials.

The unspecified activity was noticed around cellphone towers in parts of the capital, including near the White House.

A source at the company said the activity suggests someone — most likely a foreign nation — is monitoring specific individuals or their devices.

The Department of Homeland Security confirms the company was hired in January as part of a 90-day pilot program, but did not address details of the suspicious activity, or who might be behind it.

The issues were first reported in theand confirmed by .

Neal Augenstein

Neal Augenstein has been a general assignment reporter with Âé¶¹¹ÙÍø since 1997. He says he looks forward to coming to work every day, even though that means waking up at 3:30 a.m.

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