The US Treasury has accused China of hacking into their system after they noticed documents had been stolen in a "major incident".
Officials have claimed that Chinese hackers managed to access the department's IT system, stealing unclassified documents.
As a result, the hack is being treated as a “major cybersecurity incident” in an ongoing investigation.
The US Government initially became aware of the alleged cyber attack on December 8, after hackers were said to have compromised a third-party software provider, according to department officials.
In a letter to leaders of the Senate Banking Committee, assistant treasury secretary Aditi Hardikar said that “there is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury information”.
However, she did not disclose the number of workstations which had been accessed or the type of document which the hackers had stolen.
The letter reads: “Treasury takes very seriously all threats against our systems, and the data it holds.
“Over the last four years, Treasury has significantly bolstered its cyber defence, and we will continue to work with both private and public sector partners to protect our financial system from threat actors.”
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The Treasury highlighted that it only became aware of an issue once third-party software service provider BeyondTrust pointed out that hackers had acquired a key to override the system and access employees' workstations.
Since, the services have been taken down, while there is no evidence to believe that the hackers can still access department information, according to the letter.
Working with the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the department has said that they had attributed the problem to Chinese hackers, although it did not elaborate on the matter any further.
In the letter, the Treasury said: "Based on available indicators, the incident has been attributed to a China state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor."
Over the years, countries all over the world have shared increasing concern over Chinese state-backed hacking activity targeting national governments, as well as militaries and businesses.
Beijing has rejected such accusations, adding that it opposes and seeks to shut down all cyberattacks.
Earlier this year in September, the US Justice Department said that it had combatted a cyber-attack network which plagued 200,000 devices internationally, claiming that it was allegedly run by hackers supported by the Chinese state.
Additionally, in February, US officials said they had dismantled "Volt Typhoon", which are a network of hackers which are believed to have been active since 2021, and are known to target American infrastructure, including water treatment plants and transport systems.
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Officials have claimed that Chinese hackers managed to access the department's IT system, stealing unclassified documents.
As a result, the hack is being treated as a “major cybersecurity incident” in an ongoing investigation.
The US Government initially became aware of the alleged cyber attack on December 8, after hackers were said to have compromised a third-party software provider, according to department officials.
In a letter to leaders of the Senate Banking Committee, assistant treasury secretary Aditi Hardikar said that “there is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury information”.
However, she did not disclose the number of workstations which had been accessed or the type of document which the hackers had stolen.
The letter reads: “Treasury takes very seriously all threats against our systems, and the data it holds.
“Over the last four years, Treasury has significantly bolstered its cyber defence, and we will continue to work with both private and public sector partners to protect our financial system from threat actors.”
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The Treasury highlighted that it only became aware of an issue once third-party software service provider BeyondTrust pointed out that hackers had acquired a key to override the system and access employees' workstations.
Since, the services have been taken down, while there is no evidence to believe that the hackers can still access department information, according to the letter.
Working with the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the department has said that they had attributed the problem to Chinese hackers, although it did not elaborate on the matter any further.
In the letter, the Treasury said: "Based on available indicators, the incident has been attributed to a China state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor."
Over the years, countries all over the world have shared increasing concern over Chinese state-backed hacking activity targeting national governments, as well as militaries and businesses.
Beijing has rejected such accusations, adding that it opposes and seeks to shut down all cyberattacks.
Earlier this year in September, the US Justice Department said that it had combatted a cyber-attack network which plagued 200,000 devices internationally, claiming that it was allegedly run by hackers supported by the Chinese state.
Additionally, in February, US officials said they had dismantled "Volt Typhoon", which are a network of hackers which are believed to have been active since 2021, and are known to target American infrastructure, including water treatment plants and transport systems.
Find Out More...