The US Treasury Department is calling it a “major incident” following an apparent state-sponsored Chinese hack
- The US Treasury Department has confirmed that there has been a breach
- The compromise came through third-party systems, BeyondTrust
- China has denied any involvement
The US Treasury Department has confirmed that documents were stolen and systems hacked in a cyberattack it has called a “major incident.” The breach occurred through a third-party cybersecurity service provider, BeyondTrust, which enabled remote access to key systems.
This system allowed hackers to gain access that was used by the vendor to overwrite parts of the Treasury Department’s systems, the agency confirmed in a disclosure letter to Congress. The third-party system, which normally provides remote technical support to employees, has now been taken offline.
Initial assessments by the agency indicate that the attack was carried out by “a China-based Advanced Persistent Threat Actor,” officials said. China has called the accusation “baseless” and said it “consistently opposes all forms of hacking.”
A momentary break
Suspicious activity was first noticed on December 2, and the Treasury Department was notified of the hack by BeyondTrust on December 8, although it took the company three days to determine it had been compromised.
It is not clear what type of files were taken, or what these files relate to, but more details are expected to be revealed in the Treasury Department’s 30-day supplemental report.
This attack follows a massive telecom breach that targeted nine major U.S. telecommunications companies and put millions of individuals at risk.
The telecom sector breach, attributed to the Chinese state-sponsored group Salt Typhoon, resulted in a vow of retaliation by newly elected President Trump, and China also denied wrongdoing in relation to this hack.
“The US should stop using cybersecurity to defame and defame China, and stop spreading all kinds of disinformation about the so-called Chinese hacking threats,” said Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC.
Via BBC