Report: Chinese hacker targets the Treasury Department in a “major incident”

A representative of the Chinese government It was recently hacked On Monday, US Treasury Department officials announced that a “major incident” had occurred.

In a message obtained by FOX Business, Ministry of Treasury The incident was disclosed to the leadership of the Senate Banking Committee. Officials learned of the violation on December 8.

The cybercriminal reportedly gained access to Treasury workstations and documents via a security key.

“Once the service provider alerted Treasury, we immediately contacted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and worked with law enforcement partners across the government to ascertain the impact of this incident,” the spokesperson said.

China launches an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Pacific hours after Biden’s speech at the United Nations

“The compromised BeyondTrust service has been shut down and there is no evidence to suggest the threat actor continues to access treasury or information systems.”

The news came as Chinese state-affiliated hackers continue a spying campaign against the US government. last week, The White House said That Chinese officials gained access to Americans’ private texts and phone conversations by targeting an American telecommunications company – the ninth carrier affected by Chinese hacking.

Speaking to reporters, Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger said the government was planning further actions in the coming weeks in response to the hacking campaign, but did not reveal specific details.

Experts say Trump’s proposed tariffs could lead to higher food prices

Neuberger said the number of Americans affected by the latest communications attack is unknown because Chinese hackers are keen to cover their tracks. Many of the victims were located in Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

“We believe the goal was to determine who those phones belonged to and whether they were government targets of interest for continued espionage and intelligence gathering of communications, texts and phone calls on those specific phones,” she explained.

SALT Typhoon, which US officials call the Chinese government’s spy unit, has remained active for the past four years. It is not known whether the recent Treasury incident involved Salt Typhoon or another Chinese Communist Party actor.

Get FOX Business on the go by clicking here

FOX Business reached out to the Treasury Department for more information, but did not immediately receive a response.

FOX Business’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.