Computer hochrangiger Führungskräfte des US-Finanzministeriums, auf die staatlich geförderte Hacker Chinas zugegriffen haben: Quellen

First reported by Bloomberg’s Jake Bleiberg and Jamie Tarabay:

*Chinese state-sponsored hackers broke into the computers of senior US Treasury Department leaders as part of a recent breach of the agency, according to a US official and another person familiar with the matter.*

*The hackers were able to access unclassified material stored locally on the senior officials’ computers, which were among the laptops and desktops that were infiltrated, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the investigation is ongoing. They didn’t specify which senior leaders’ computers were breached.*

*[…] Chinese officials have long denied US allegations of state-sponsored cyberattacks, and a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson this week called the claims that it’s behind the Treasury hack “unwarranted and groundless.”*

*Treasury spokesperson Lily Adams declined to comment on Thursday. In a Dec. 30 letter to Congress reviewed by Bloomberg News, the agency characterized the breach as a “major cybersecurity incident” and said the hackers got in through through a software provider, BeyondTrust Inc. The Georgia-based company sells managed access software and other cybersecurity products.*

*[…] BeyondTrust holds contracts with the federal government worth more than $4 million, according to government data compiled by Bloomberg. In addition to Treasury, the data show, BeyondTrust does business with the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Justice, along with other agencies.*

*A Department of Defense spokesperson said Tuesday that it had not received a notification about the breach from BeyondTrust. Officials with the Justice Department and Department of Veterans Affairs haven’t responded to separate requests for comment.*