China hacked the US Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment, which reviews foreign investments for national security risks
Chinese hackers have reportedly infiltrated a key office within the US Treasury Department tasked with reviewing foreign investments and transactions that could threaten US national security.
CNN reportsCiting US officials familiar with the incident, the Chinese hackers targeted the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Committee on Foreign Investment in the United Stateswhich can approve or reject deals that pose national security risks, such as corporate mergers and acquisitions or deals involving sensitive U.S. information.
Treasury officials confirmed to TechCrunch last week that this was the case Investigation into a “major cybersecurity incident” Following a breach at one of its security services vendors, BeyondTrust. The Treasury Department said hackers broke in using a stolen BeyondTrust key to remotely access employee workstations and documents on the department’s unclassified network. It was later revealed that Chinese hackers had also been compromised International Financial Sanctions Administration OfficeOffice of Foreign Assets Control or OFAC.
The US cybersecurity agency CISA said this week There was no signal That the hackers had broken into any other US government department as part of the campaign.
Bloomberg reports that the hackers targeting the Treasury Department are known as Silk Typhoon (formerly called “Hafnium”), an active Chinese-backed hacking group known for… Carrying out mass hacking operations With the aim of stealing information.
The cyberattack on the Treasury Department is the latest in a series of incidents identified in recent months linked to the Chinese-backed “Typhoon” hacker family. These included cyber attacks Targeting the private communications of US government officials and Pre-identifying the locations of destructive malware in US critical infrastructure To strike In the event of a future conflict Between China and the United States.
The Chinese government has repeatedly denied these accusations.
