'Major incident': China reportedly hacks Treasury Department
China reportedly hacked the Treasury Department in what the United States is calling a "major incident" — the second time the department has been hacked in the last four years.
The New York Times reported Monday that there were already reports that China was able to make it deep into U.S. telecommunications systems, allowing them to access calls and text messages from U.S. officials and more.
The company BeyondTrust contacted the Treasury Department earlier this month to say that a hacker obtained a security key that allowed remote access to some Treasury Department workstations. The hackers then obtained the documents from those workstations.
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Federal and private experts told NBC News that in December 2020, the Trump administration admitted hackers acting on behalf of "almost certainly a Russian intelligence agency" broke into government networks, including the Treasury and Commerce Departments.
"Dozens of email accounts at the Treasury Department were compromised in a massive breach of U.S. government agencies being blamed on Russia, with hackers breaking into systems used by the department’s highest-ranking officials," a senator told The Associated Press at the time.
In the most recent incident, government officials are staying mum on the details for now.