View from the US Treasury building on December 30, 2024 in Washington, DC, USA. The U.S. Treasury Department suffered a cyberattack by Chinese state-sponsored attackers in early December.
Celal Gunes | Anadolu | Getty Images
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Chinese government hackers had breached the U.S. Treasury Department, which oversees economic sanctions, and identified the targets of a cyberattack the Treasury Department disclosed earlier this week.
The Washington Post, citing unnamed US officials, said hackers breached the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Office of Financial Investigation, and also targeted Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s office.
The department said in a letter to lawmakers earlier this week that hackers had stolen classified documents in a “significant incident.” It did not say which users or departments were affected.
Asked about the paper’s report, Chinese Embassy Spokesperson in Washington, Liu Pengyu, said the US’s “unreasonable” claims had “no basis in fact” and amounted to a “slanderous attack” against the Chinese government. .
The statement said China was “combatting all forms of cyberattacks,” but did not directly address the Washington Post’s reporting on specific targets.
The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the newspaper report.
The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the matter, said Beijing’s biggest area of concern would be Chinese companies that the U.S. government might consider targeting with financial sanctions.
A Treasury Department letter earlier this week said hackers had breached BeyondTrust, a third-party cybersecurity service provider.
Chinese companies, individuals, and entities are often subject to U.S. sanctions, which the U.S. government has used as an important tool in its foreign policy toward China.
The U.S. considers China its biggest foreign policy challenge, with Yellen telling Reuters last month that the U.S. is seeking to cut Russia’s oil revenues and access to foreign supplies in order to foment a war in Ukraine. He said he would not rule out sanctions against Chinese banks.
