White House confirms hack of Treasury Department's sanctions office

WASHINGTON

The White House confirmed Friday that the Treasury Department's sanctions office was hacked in what reports suggest was a Chinese government operation.

US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incident, and the White House is "closely tracking" it, spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

"We're working to identify actions to mitigate the future risk to US government networks and anything further, I would have to refer you to the US Treasury Department, FBI, who could speak to specifics on this particular incident," she said.

Jean-Pierre did not attribute blame for the cyberattack, but the Washington Post newspaper reported Wednesday that suspected China-based hackers targeted the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which implements sanctions on countries and individuals, as well as the Office of the Treasury Secretary.

Anonymous officials told the Post that the targeting indicates "Beijing’s determination to acquire intelligence on its most significant rival in the global competition for power and influence."

The report came a day after The New York Times newspaper reported that a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group infiltrated the US Treasury Department, gaining unauthorized access to government workstations and unclassified documents.

The breach, described as a "major cybersecurity incident" by the Treasury Department, was discovered on Dec. 8 when BeyondTrust, a third-party software provider, alerted the agency, said the Times.

"Based on available indicators, the incident has been attributed to a China state-sponsored Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor," the department said in a letter to lawmakers.

The hackers reportedly used a security key to gain remote access to certain systems.

According to media reports, Treasury officials further confirmed that the compromised service had been taken offline, adding "there is no evidence that the Chinese state actor still has access to Treasury information."

While China denies involvement in such attacks, the latest breach comes after revelations of other Chinese-linked cyber incidents, including a breach targeting US telecom networks.

China also emphasized efforts to collaborate with the US on cybersecurity issues.​​​​​​​