The email accounts of US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns and other diplomatic officials have reportedly been hacked in a major cyber attack. The attack, which was first disclosed by Microsoft, has been attributed to Beijing.
According to the Wall Street Journal, several sources familiar with the matter have confirmed that the hack also targeted Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. These individuals are believed to be the highest-level officials affected by the breach, which is said to have accessed a vast trove of government emails.
While the exact number of emails compromised in the attack remains unknown, it is reported to have compromised hundreds of thousands of unclassified messages. The estimate for the number of emails accessed could potentially increase, according to the Journal.
The State Department has refrained from sharing specific details about the breach due to “security reasons,” but has acknowledged that an investigation is ongoing.
Last week, Microsoft unveiled the cyber attack, stating that hackers had exploited a flaw in the company’s cloud-computing environment to target over two dozen organizations globally, including 10 in the United States. It is unclear if any other federal agencies besides the State and Commerce departments were breached, although Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s emails do not appear to have been targeted.
Microsoft has accused a “China-based threat actor” supported by the Beijing government of launching the attack. In a blog post published last week, the company claimed that the hackers had “espionage objectives,” although they reached this conclusion with only “moderate confidence.”
While Secretary of State Blinken assured his Chinese counterpart that appropriate action would be taken in response to the hack, Beijing has dismissed the allegations, labeling them as “disinformation.”
The cyber attack targeting US government officials highlights the ongoing issue of digital espionage and cyber threats faced by governments worldwide. It reinforces the importance of strong cybersecurity measures and international cooperation to safeguard critical information and protect against future attacks.
In conclusion, the breach of US government email accounts, including those of the US Ambassador to China and other officials, by hackers allegedly backed by Beijing has raised concerns about cybersecurity and espionage. The attack, which compromised hundreds of thousands of unclassified emails, has prompted an ongoing investigation and discussions of appropriate response actions by US officials. The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of robust cybersecurity measures and international collaboration in addressing cyber threats and protecting critical government information.
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