China Hacked Treasury Dept. in ‘Major’ Breach, U.S. Says
The episode comes at a particularly sensitive moment, just as the Biden White House is dealing with one of the most far-reaching, and damaging, hacks into American infrastructure in the cyberage. One of China’s intelligence agencies hacked the U.S. Treasury Department, gaining access to the workstations of government employees and unclassified documents, the Biden administration said on Monday, the latest in a series of embarrassing surveillance operations against major American institutions.
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 Dec. 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.
Earlier in the year, Chinese intelligence cracked email accounts used by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo as she was making determinations about new export controls on advanced semiconductors and other key technology, an attempt to slow their acquisition by Chinese firms. Similar efforts were made against targets in the State Department.
But the admission by the administration about the Treasury Department comes at a particularly sensitive moment, just as the Biden White House is dealing with one of the most far-reaching, and damaging, hacks into American infrastructure in the cyberage.
That breach exploited critical gaps in the patched-together U.S. telecommunications infrastructure, giving the hackers access to not only text messages but also phone conversations. Investigators said that among the targets were the commercial, unencrypted phone lines used by President-elect Donald J. Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and top national security officials, though it is not clear what conversations, if any, the hackers were able to monitor.
Ну так чего, тянет это на казус белли и начала прямой войны с Китаем или повод для ввода санкций и эмбарго против Китая, наподобе санкций против РесФедии ?
Дед с утра начал, даже до обеда не дотерпел. Поесть же надо хотя бы плотно, что с утра заливаться-то так. Уже раз в неделю у вас Китай всё хакает, перебор же, ну реально, окститесь.
Комментарий чувака с аватаркой Бивиса, пожалуй, самый адекватный. Только ведь они так и напишут потом - "Граждане Америки! Инфляция произошла потому что Си Цзиньпинь ворвался в кладовую и напечатал лишние доллары!". В википедии.
China Hacked Treasury Dept. in ‘Major’ Breach, U.S. Says
The episode comes at a particularly sensitive moment, just as the Biden White House is dealing with one of the most far-reaching, and damaging, hacks into American infrastructure in the cyberage.
One of China’s intelligence agencies hacked the U.S. Treasury Department, gaining access to the workstations of government employees and unclassified documents, the Biden administration said on Monday, the latest in a series of embarrassing surveillance operations against major American institutions.
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 Dec. 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.
Earlier in the year, Chinese intelligence cracked email accounts used by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo as she was making determinations about new export controls on advanced semiconductors and other key technology, an attempt to slow their acquisition by Chinese firms. Similar efforts were made against targets in the State Department.
But the admission by the administration about the Treasury Department comes at a particularly sensitive moment, just as the Biden White House is dealing with one of the most far-reaching, and damaging, hacks into American infrastructure in the cyberage.
That breach exploited critical gaps in the patched-together U.S. telecommunications infrastructure, giving the hackers access to not only text messages but also phone conversations. Investigators said that among the targets were the commercial, unencrypted phone lines used by President-elect Donald J. Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and top national security officials, though it is not clear what conversations, if any, the hackers were able to monitor.
Ну так чего, тянет это на казус белли и начала прямой войны с Китаем или повод для ввода санкций и эмбарго против Китая, наподобе санкций против РесФедии ?
Reply
Дед с утра начал, даже до обеда не дотерпел. Поесть же надо хотя бы плотно, что с утра заливаться-то так. Уже раз в неделю у вас Китай всё хакает, перебор же, ну реально, окститесь.
Комментарий чувака с аватаркой Бивиса, пожалуй, самый адекватный. Только ведь они так и напишут потом - "Граждане Америки! Инфляция произошла потому что Си Цзиньпинь ворвался в кладовую и напечатал лишние доллары!". В википедии.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment