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By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – Investigations into a significant security breach were ongoing Tuesday after China-backed experts allegedly managed to hack the U.S. Treasury Department’s computers, “stealing” documents in what officials called a “major incident.”
In a letter to legislators, the Treasury Department acknowledged that Chinese state-sponsored hackers “compromised” third-party cybersecurity service provider BeyondTrust and were able to access “unclassified documents.”
Hackers “gained access to a key used by the vendor to secure a cloud-based service used to remotely provide technical support for Treasury Departmental Offices (DO) end users,” the letter said.
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.”
Officials said the hack is being treated as a “major cybersecurity incident” in an ongoing investigation.
According to sources familiar with the case, the U.S. Government initially became aware of the alleged cyber attack on December 8, after hackers were said to have compromised a third-party software provider.
The alleged Chinese involvement in accessing computers in the heart of the U.S. government comes amid broader concerns about China’s alleged increased spying activities in the United States.
In September earlier this year, the U.S. Justice Department said it combatted a cyberattack network that plagued 200,000 devices internationally, claiming that hackers supported by Beijing allegedly ran it.
Additionally, in February, U.S. officials reportedly announced they had dismantled “Volt Typhoon,” a network of hackers believed to have been active since 2021 and are known to target American infrastructure, including water treatment plants and transport systems.
China did not immediately comment on the latest findings, but they were expected to increase pressure on U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump to deal with Beijing following his inauguration on January 20.
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