In yet another security breach by Beijing, China-based hackers recently broke into the email accounts of US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns as part of a targeted intelligence-gathering campaign, CNN reported on Thursday, citing US officials.
According to officials, the hackers also accessed the email account of Daniel Krittenbrink, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, who recently traveled to China with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Earlier, weeks before Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing in June, Chinese hackers also breached the emails of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and State Department officials, The New York Times reported, citing US officials.
Earlier, Microsoft It has been revealed that Chinese hackers have gained access to government email accounts with the intention of gathering US intelligence.
According to the New York Times, according to a person with knowledge of the intrusion into government networks, the attack was targeted, with hackers going after specific accounts rather than carrying out a broad-brush intrusion that would suck up massive amounts of data.
It is pertinent to mention, a US official said, that the State Department discovered the intrusion on June 16 and informed Microsoft the same day, just before Blinken’s visit to Beijing. He left Washington that evening.
Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen also visited Beijing after Blinken. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to try to stabilize ties at a meeting in Bali, Indonesia last November, but tensions between the two countries escalated when in early February the Pentagon discovered and shot down a Chinese spy balloon floating over the continental United States.
© Thomson Reuters 2023