Chinese hackers hacked the US government office responsible for assessing the national security risks of foreign investments

CNN-

Chinese hackers broke into the U.S. government office that screens foreign investments for national security risks, three U.S. officials familiar with the matter told CNN.

The theft, which has not been previously reported, underscores Beijing's keen interest in spying on a U.S. government office that has broad powers to block Chinese investments in the United States, amid tensions between the two global superpowers remain high.

The breach was part of a broader incursion by hackers into the Treasury Department's unclassified system. The office targeted by the hackers, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), was granted greater authority in December to monitor real estate sales near U.S. military bases. U.S. lawmakers and national security officials are increasingly concerned that the Chinese government or its proxies could use land acquisitions to spy on these bases.

It is one of several suspected Chinese cyberespionage campaigns that have shaken the U.S. government over the past year and will challenge the new Trump administration. Another group of Chinese hackers infiltrated deep into US telecommunications networks to spy on the phone communications of high-level US political figures, including President-elect Donald Trump, CNN previously reported.

U.S. officials are scrambling to assess the national security implications of the hack of unclassified information, which the Treasury disclosed to lawmakers last week.

The hackers also targeted the Treasury's sanctions office, which last week sanctioned a Chinese company for its alleged role in cyberattacks, two U.S. officials told CNN. The Washington Post was first to report that the sanctions office was targeted. It was not immediately clear what information the hackers stole from Treasury computers.

U.S. officials are now reviewing individual documents accessed by the hackers and will conduct an analysis assessing the overall impact of the stolen information on national security, one of the U.S. officials said. Although there is no evidence that classified information was accessed, there is concern that, taken together, the unclassified information could provide useful intelligence to the Chinese.

A Treasury spokesperson did not respond to questions about hackers targeting CFIUS and instead shared a previous statement from the department.

Hackers compromised a third-party service provider last month and were able to remotely access several Treasury user workstations and some unclassified documents maintained by those users, the Treasury spokesperson said.

The department worked with law enforcement partners across government to determine the impact of this incident and there is no evidence that hackers continued to access Treasury systems or information, continues the press release.

Treasury takes all threats to our systems and the data it holds very seriously, the spokesperson said. Over the past four years, Treasury has significantly strengthened its cyber defense and we will continue to work with private and public sector partners to protect our financial system from malicious actors.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, reiterated China's long-standing denials that it engages in hacking operations.

During his meeting with President Biden in Lima [last] Last year, President Xi Jinping said there was no evidence that supported the irrational claim of so-called cyberattacks from China, Liu said in an email.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNBC that the hack is not something that builds trust in our relationship. [with China] and that she raised the issue with her Chinese counterpart in a call this week.

Yellen heads CFIUS, which includes other chiefs of staff such as the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security. Once an obscure office, CFIUS has grown in stature as competition between the United States and China has become more complicated and extended to business transactions in remote parts of the United States.

CNN first reported on a 2023 CFIUS review of a company that purchased hundreds of millions of dollars of land in a county near a key Air Force base in California.

The new Trump administration is expected to include several Cabinet members or other senior officials who have called for tougher measures on China on national security grounds, including the new national security adviser, Rep. Mike Waltz, and Senator Marco Rubio, Trump's choice for secretary of state.

The U.S. military and spy agencies are already engaging in offensive cyber operations against China, but Waltz says he wants more action to be taken.

America can no longer afford to simply defend itself against cybersecurity, Waltz published on X last month. We must go on the offensive and impose COSTS on those who steal our technology and attack our infrastructure.

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