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The U.S. Treasury Department recently suffered a major cybersecurity breach attributed to a China state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor. The hackers gained remote access to certain Treasury workstations and unclassified documents, sparking concerns about the potential theft of sensitive information ¹.

 

The breach was discovered on December 8, when the Treasury Department was notified by BeyondTrust, a third-party software service company, that a security key had been compromised. An investigation revealed that the hackers had accessed the workstations of government employees and obtained unclassified documents.

 

This incident is particularly sensitive, given the Treasury Department's role in overseeing global financial systems and implementing sanctions against Chinese firms. The breach has raised concerns about the potential for espionage and the theft of sensitive information.

 

The Treasury Department has worked with the FBI, the intelligence community, and other investigators to determine the impact of the breach. The compromised service has been taken offline, and there is no evidence that the Chinese hackers still have access to Treasury information.

 

Chinese officials have denied any government role in the hacking, but the incident has highlighted the need for increased cybersecurity measures to protect against state-sponsored threats.