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US Treasury Department Announces Chinese Hackers Remotely Accessed Workstations, Documents in 'Major Incident'
The Treasury Department announced that Chinese hackers remotely accessed unclassified documents as the U.S. weighs its future relationship with China amid cybersecurity concerns.
What Happened?
The Treasury Department announced that Chinese hackers remotely accessed several workstations and unclassified documents Monday after compromising a third-party software service provider.
In a letter to lawmakers, the treasury department called it a 'major incident' and has been working with Cybersecurity, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and other governing agencies to fully characterize its overall impact.
Officials were made aware of the hack on Dec. 8 December by BeyondTrust, the letter detailed.
Aditi Hardikar, assistant secretary for management at the U.S. Treasury said, ‘Based on available indicators, the incident has been attributed to a China state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor.’
‘With access to the stolen key, the threat actor was able to override the service’s security, remotely access certain Treasury DO user workstations, and access certain unclassified documents maintained by those users,’ Hardikar added.
The department did not disclose the number of workstations involved as they believe ‘there is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury information.’
Hardikar said the compromised service has since been taken offline.
The letter also stated that a supplemental report will be made available in 30 days.
Treasury officials are planning to hold a classified briefing from the House Financial Services Committee about the incident next week, according to reports.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning in Beijing reportedly gave China’s standard response to hacking allegations.
Ning reportedly stated, ‘We have repeatedly stated our position on such groundless accusations that lack evidence. China consistently opposes all forms of hacking, and we are even more opposed to the dissemination of false information against China for political purposes.’
Why it Matters
The incident comes not long after telecommunication networks AT&T and Verizon were reportedly targeted by China-linked cyberespionage group Salt Typhoon.
Chinese hackers were able to access the cellular networks in a cybersecurity breach, gaining millions of data from individuals and recording phone calls at will.
President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and senior Biden administration officials were reportedly among the victims affected by this major hacking incident.
These incidents come during a time when cybersecurity concerns have many Congress members and citizens on edge.
How it Affects You
More than 170 million American users use the popular video-sharing app TikTok, which officials argue poses a national security risk by control from a potential foreign adversary.
While the Jan. 19 ban is pending some legal challenges, it could ultimately impact the future relationship that the U.S. has with China when evaluating the security of the nation.