‘Chinese’ hacking of US Treasury went to the top – Bloomberg

The computers of Secretary Janet Yellen and two of her aides we compromised in the December breach, sources have claimed

Suspected Chinese hackers gained access to the computer used by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for work in a breach last December, Bloomberg News said on Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The attackers infiltrated over 400 laptop and desktop computers, exploiting a vulnerability in third-party software to defeat the network’s defenses, the Treasury previously reported to Congress.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Yellen, Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo, and Acting Under Secretary Brad Smith are on the list of people whose stations were compromised. Less than 50 files were accessed on the machine of the head of the department, they said.

The US government identified a hacker group known as ‘Silk Typhoon’ and ‘UNC5221’, which Washington describes as sponsored by the Chinese government, as the party behind the hack. Beijing has denied any involvement in the incident.

The company BeyondTrust, whose software exposed government computers to infiltration, detected the breach and informed the US authorities about it. Hackers managed to obtain a security key, used by the vendor for remote technical support of customers in the Treasury, its report said.

READ MORE: US Treasury accuses China of hacking its workstations

Around 3,000 files were reportedly compromised, as well as some sensitive data, such as usernames of Treasury employees, but classified materials and the department’s email systems remained secure, investigators said. The attackers were allegedly interested in the department’s work to enforce unilateral economic restrictions, which the US imposes on other nations.

The Chinese government has accused Washington of using hacking incidents on its soil to tarnish Beijing’s reputation and justify its sanctions policy.