The US Treasury Department says it has been the target of a cyber attack backed by China. According to a statement from the department to Congress in Washington, the cyber attack infiltrated several Treasury Department workplaces.
The access took place in early December through an external security service provider, and according to a spokesperson, some documents were also affected. However, the documents were not subject to any degree of secrecy, the Treasury said.
“Serious IT security incident”
Accordingly, the authority was informed of the incident by its provider BeyondTrust. He then worked with security authorities to assess the scale of the attack. The cybersecurity services targeted by the attackers have been taken offline. It is still a “serious IT security incident”.
There was “no indication” that the attacker had further access to Treasury IT systems or information, the ministry said. The Ministry of Finance initially provided no further information about which part of the department was affected. However, it announced further information within the next 30 days.
Attackers backed by the Chinese state?
In a letter to the US Senate Banking Committee, the ministry said the incident was caused by an actor backed by the Chinese state. This actor is responsible for serious cyber attacks in the APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) category.
In March, the US, Britain and New Zealand accused China of a series of cyber attacks on state institutions in recent years. In February, US authorities announced they had thwarted a Chinese-backed cyberattack on key infrastructure including communications, energy and water supplies.
Beijing has always rejected the accusations
As early as May 2023, the US and other Western allies accused Beijing of infiltrating key infrastructure in the states with the help of a state-sponsored hacker group called Volt Typhoon. China has always denied the allegations.
Source: Krone
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