
US Treasury Department Admits It Got Hacked by China
The US Treasury Department has recently admitted that it was hacked by a Chinese-based hacking group called Salt Typhoon. This breach is part of a larger incident that has compromised nine major American telecommunications companies.
According to House officials, the Treasury Department disclosed the breach to Congress last week, but details about the incident remain scarce. Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, expressed concern over the lack of basic cybersecurity practices among private companies operating critical infrastructure. “We wouldn’t leave our homes, our offices, unlocked and yet our critical infrastructure—the private companies owning and operating our critical infrastructure—often do not have the basic cybersecurity practices in place that would make our infrastructure riskier, costlier, and harder for countries and criminals to attack,” she said.
Despite Treasury officials’ refusal to comment on whether Salt Typhoon was specifically responsible for the breach, it is clear that the incident has significant implications. Hunter Strategy’s CEO, Williams, suggests that the impact may be more severe than initially reported, stating, “I expect the impact to be more significant than access to just a few unclassified documents.”
The Treasury Department’s disclosure comes as part of a broader discussion on cybersecurity and national security in the US government. This incident highlights the urgent need for companies and institutions to prioritize basic cybersecurity practices to protect against attacks from nation-state actors like China.
This article is based on the provided text, which describes an incident where the US Treasury Department was hacked by Salt Typhoon, a Chinese-based hacking group, along with nine other major American telecommunications companies.
Source: http://www.wired.com