6 January 2025

US Treasury hacked: Are China and the US stepping up their cyberwar?

Sarah Shamim

The United States Department of the Treasury on Monday blamed China for breaching its network and gaining access to information that includes unclassified documents.

Beijing has denied the allegation, calling it “groundless”.

The alleged hacking comes weeks after Beijing accused Washington of carrying out two cyberattacks on Chinese technology firms.

With Washington and Beijing trading blame, we assess the history of cyberwarfare between the world’s two largest economies and whether it has intensified.

Who hacked the US Treasury Department?

The US Treasury Department accused Chinese state-sponsored hackers of breaking into its system this month and accessing employee workstations and unclassified documents.

The department said the hackers gained access by overriding a security key used by third-party cybersecurity provider BeyondTrust, which provides technical support remotely to Treasury employees.

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