State-sponsored hackers linked to China have successfully breached the U.S. Treasury Department’s computer systems, accessing unclassified documents in what officials are calling a “major incident.” The breach, facilitated by a compromise of third-party cybersecurity provider BeyondTrust, was disclosed in a letter to lawmakers and confirmed to Reuters.
How the Breach Occurred
According to the letter, the hackers exploited a security key from BeyondTrust, which secures a cloud-based service used for remote technical support by the Treasury Departmental Offices (DO). By bypassing the service’s security, the attackers gained access to specific Treasury workstations and unclassified files maintained by DO users.
The Treasury Department was first alerted to the breach by BeyondTrust on December 8. It has since been working alongside the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the FBI to assess the full scope of the attack.
What Officials Are Saying
The Chinese Embassy in Washington denied involvement, accusing the U.S. of making baseless accusations. BeyondTrust has not issued a detailed response but confirmed on its website that it had recently identified a security incident affecting some customers of its remote support software. The company stated that a digital key had been compromised and that investigations were ongoing.
A Treasury spokesperson declined to provide additional details, while the FBI and CISA redirected inquiries back to the Treasury Department.
A Growing Pattern of Cyber Threats
Cybersecurity experts have noted that this breach aligns with a growing trend of operations attributed to Chinese state-sponsored groups. Tom Hegel, a researcher with SentinelOne, emphasized that targeting third-party service providers is a hallmark of PRC-linked hackers.
“This incident fits a well-documented pattern of operations by PRC-linked groups, with a particular focus on abusing trusted third-party services—a method that has become increasingly prominent in recent years,” Hegel said.
Implications for U.S. Security
The breach underscores the vulnerability of third-party service providers as critical weak points in cybersecurity. It also raises questions about the resilience of U.S. government systems against increasingly sophisticated state-sponsored cyberattacks.
This incident adds to a series of recent cyber operations targeting U.S. agencies and highlights the need for tighter collaboration between federal agencies and private sector cybersecurity firms to mitigate risks.
How to Prepare for Cyber Attacks and Tech Outages
Today’s global tech outage is a critical wake-up call about the importance of preparedness in our digital society. When our world relies so heavily on technology for everything from communication to emergency services, these systems’ vulnerabilities can have far-reaching consequences.
Here’s how to stay prepared:
We suggest reading our article on EMP Preparedness: Preparing for an Electromagnetic Pulse Attack and Protecting yourself from Attacks on our Power Grid.
Perform a Threat Assessment
Part of truly being prepared for anything, means knowing exactly how this type of threat will affect your long-term preparedness efforts. By performing a realistic threat assessment, you can get a better idea of how this threat will affect you and what you can do to prepare for the situation.
The Ultimate Situational Survival Guide: Self-Reliance Strategies for a Dangerous World: This guide provides in-depth strategies for self-reliance, helping you prepare for a wide range of threats, from economic collapse to natural disasters.
Survival Communications
When the power lines go down, the internet blackout starts and the grid crashes; there is one line of emergency communication that will still be alive and well – HAM RADIO. A good survival plan must include some type of emergency communications equipment. The ability to send and receive information, after the grid goes down, is vital to being able to survive that situation.
For more information on Ham Radio and Emergency Communication, check out these articles:
Stock up on the Basic Survival Necessities
Think about what things you need to survive, and start to stock up on those items now. Water, Food, Shelter and Protection should all be at the top of the list. In my opinion water, food, shelter and protection are the most important things that you can stock up on. If you can cover those four categories then you will be far better off than 99% of the country.
Be Prepared to Feed Yourself when the Collapse Hits!
Grocery Options that ship right to your Home:
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