China hacked treasury dept. in ‘major’ breach, US says

One of China’s intelligence agencies hacked the US Treasury Department, gaining access to the workstations of government employees and unclassified documents, the Biden administration said on December 31, the latest in a series of embarrassing surveillance operations against major American institutions, Report informs via The New York Times.

It was unclear from the Treasury’s limited first account of the episode exactly what the hackers were seeking. But senior officials with access to the intelligence on the breach said that it appeared to be entirely an espionage operation and not part of other Chinese efforts to insert malicious computer code into utility grids and water supply systems, giving them a capability to shut off critical American infrastructure.

In a letter informing lawmakers of the episode, the Treasury Department said it had been notified on December 8 by a third-party software service company, BeyondTrust, that the hacker had obtained a security key that allowed it to gain remote access to certain Treasury workstations and documents on them.

“Based on available indicators, the incident has been attributed to a China state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor,” the letter said. “In accordance with Treasury policy, intrusions attributable to an APT are considered a major cybersecurity incident.”

Top Chinese officials have a deep interest in the activities of the Treasury Department, which oversees sensitive data about global financial systems — and estimates of China’s own troubled economy. The department also implements sanctions against Chinese firms, including, in recent times, those aiding Russia in the war against Ukraine.