China USA: Treasury Department targeted by Chinese hacker attack
The US Treasury Department has reportedly been the target of a Chinese cyberattack.
31.12.2024, 01:02
31.12.2024, 01:03
SDA
In a letter to members of Congress, the Department announced, according to media reports, that it had been informed by a software company on December 8 that a hacker had obtained a security key. This had given him remote access to certain workstations of the Ministry of Finance and the non-classified documents on them.
It is assumed that an actor sponsored by the Chinese state is behind the "serious security incident", it added. The Treasury Department said it had been working with the FBI, intelligence agencies and other investigators to determine the impact of the attack.
Access to "multiple" user workstations
There is no indication that the Chinese actor still has access to the Treasury Department's data, it added. According to the Ministry, "several" user workstations of the Ministry of Finance were accessed. The Treasury Department is required to provide further information in an additional report within 30 days.
The US has been accusing China of state-controlled hacker attacks for years, which China has always denied. According to the US, Chinese hackers penetrated the systems of at least eight US telecommunications providers in early December in order to spy on high-ranking politicians.
It had already become known in October that suspected Chinese hackers had also targeted the telephone data of US President-elect Donald Trump - then still a presidential candidate - and his running mate J.D. Vance. The environment of the campaign team of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and other high-ranking members of Joe Biden's administration are also said to have been targeted by the criminals at the time.
