NEW YORK, December 31. /TASS/. The US Treasury Department said hackers linked to China breached its electronic systems, the New York Times reported, citing the department’s letter to Congress.
According to the letter, BeyondTrust, a software service company hired by the Treasury, notified the agency that a hacker had obtained a security key that allowed it to remotely gain access to certain Treasury workstations and documents on them.
Following the incident the compromised service was taken offline, and there is no evidence that the hacker still has access to Treasury information, the department said. The Treasury Department said it is working with the FBI to investigate the breach.
This is not the first time the US recently made allegations of attacks by Chinese-affiliated hackers on US infrastructure. Earlier, Washington said that Chinese hackers were allegedly engaged in intercepting phone calls of American politicians, including one of Donald Trump's advisers. According to the report, that incident was the handiwork of the Salt Typhoon group, allegedly linked to the Chinese government.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington told TASS in late October that the US itself is a major source and perpetrator of cyberattacks and should refrain from slandering other countries.