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Chinese government officials recently hacked into the U.S. Treasury Department in a “major incident,” officials announced Monday.
In a letter obtained by FOX Business, the Treasury Department disclosed the incident to Senate Banking Committee leadership. Authorities learned of the breach on December 8th.
Cybercriminals reportedly gained access to Treasury workstations and documents via security keys.
“Once Treasury was alerted by the service provider, we immediately contacted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and worked with law enforcement partners across government to review the impact of this incident,” the spokesperson said. said.
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The U.S. Treasury Building photographed on Friday, July 16, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“The compromised BeyondTrust services are taken offline, and there is no evidence that the attackers continued to access Treasury systems or information.”
The news comes as Chinese government-affiliated hackers continue to spy on the U.S. government. The White House announced last week that Chinese authorities had targeted U.S. telecommunications companies and accessed Americans’ private texts and phone conversations. This is the ninth telecommunications company to be affected by Chinese hacking.
Vice Presidential National Security Adviser Ann Neuberger told reporters the government was planning further action in the coming weeks to counter the hacking campaign, but did not provide specific details. .
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August 29, 2022 at the Treasury Department building in Washington, DC. ((Photo Credit: DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Neuberger said it’s unclear how many Americans were affected by recent communications attacks because Chinese hackers are careful to cover their tracks. Many of the victims were in Washington, DC and Virginia.
“We need to determine who those phones belong to and whether they are of interest to the government for subsequent espionage, communications, and information collection of texts and calls on specific phones. “I think that was the purpose,” she explained.
Salt Typhoon, which U.S. officials call the Chinese government’s spy unit, has been operating for the past four years. It is unclear whether Salt Typhoon or other Chinese Communist Party-affiliated actors were involved in the recent Treasury incident.
On May 19, 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds during a joint press conference for the China-Central Asia Summit held in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, northern China. (Photo by FLORENCE LO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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FOX Business reached out to the Treasury Department for more information but did not immediately receive a response.
FOX Business’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.
