China denied any involvement in a major cyberattack that penetrated the U.S. Treasury Department, enabling hackers to obtain unclassified documents through a third-party cybersecurity provider.
In a letter to lawmakers on December 30, US Treasury officials revealed that the breach was discovered on December 8. Preliminary investigations pointed to a Chinese state-sponsored hacker group as the perpetrator, identified as an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT).
The hackers exploited a weakness in a remote support service provided by the cybersecurity company BeyondTrust, gaining unauthorized access to Treasury workstations.
The compromised service had been used to provide technical support for Treasury employees. By obtaining a key that secured cloud-based services, the attackers were able to bypass security measures and access sensitive documents stored on the systems.
BeyondTrust stated that the breach was first detected on December 2, then on December 5 following suspicious activity verification, the company de-provisioned the unauthorized security key and reached out to the affected customers.
It did indeed contact law enforcement and claimed it has been working very closely with U.S. agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and CISA, as they continue their investigations.
China has denied the accusations of hacking, stating that they are a “smear attack” with no evidence in fact. A representative of the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. termed the allegations “groundless”.
Treasury officials say it is not clear if there is any ongoing access that the hackers may have within Treasury systems. A closed-door briefing on the breach to the House Financial Services Committee is scheduled for next week.
This attack feeds into growing concerns about cyber threats, particularly in 2024, which has been characterized by a steep upsurge in hacking attacks, some of which involve central exchanges and platforms operating in the cryptocurrency market.
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