Chinese hackers breached US ambassador’s emails: Report

By Reuters: Beijing-linked hackers accessed the e-mail account of the US ambassador to China in an espionage operation thought to have compromised at the least tons of of 1000’s of US authorities emails, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Thursday.

Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia, was additionally hacked within the wider spying operation disclosed this month by Microsoft, the newspaper mentioned, citing individuals aware of the matter.

Asked in regards to the reported breach of the 2 diplomats’ accounts, the State Department declined to present any particulars and mentioned its investigation of the spying operation was occurring.

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US Ambassador Nicholas Burns’ embassy in Beijing referred Reuters to remarks made by Secretary of State Antony Blinken this month when he mentioned the US has “consistently made clear to China as well as to other countries that any action that targets the US Government or US companies, American citizens, is of deep concern to us, and we will take appropriate action in response.”

A spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington mentioned China constantly opposed hacking and it rejected “groundless” hypothesis in regards to the supply of cyber assaults.

“China firmly opposes and combats cyber attacks and cyber theft in all forms. This position is consistent and clear,” spokesperson Liu Pengyu mentioned in an emailed response to Reuters.

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“Identifying the source of cyber attacks is a complex technical issue. We hope that relevant sides will adopt a professional and responsible attitude … rather than make groundless speculations and allegations.”

Before the WSJ report appeared, Kritenbrink was requested at a congressional listening to on US China coverage whether or not he may rule out that his or his employees’s emails had been focused within the Microsoft hack.

“I can’t comment on an investigation that’s underway being conducted by the FBI, but no, I will not rule it out,” Kritenbrink mentioned.

Burns and Kritenbrink be part of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo as the one publicly named victims of the espionage marketing campaign, which prompted a warning by Washington’s prime diplomat to his Chinese counterpart.

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FLAW IN CODE

Microsoft mentioned final week that Chinese hackers misappropriated one in all its digital keys and used a flaw in its code to steal emails from U.S. authorities businesses and different shoppers.

The firm didn’t instantly return a message searching for touch upon the WSJ report.

The breach has thrown Microsoft’s safety practices beneath scrutiny, with officers and lawmakers calling on the Redmond, Washington-based firm to make its prime stage of digital auditing, additionally known as logging, obtainable to all its clients freed from cost.

Microsoft mentioned in a press release late on Thursday that it was taking the criticism on board.

Last week, White House National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge mentioned an intrusion in Microsoft’s cloud safety “affected unclassified systems,” with out elaborating.

“Officials immediately contacted Microsoft to find the source and vulnerability in their cloud service,” Hodge added.

The State Department “detected anomalous activity” and “took immediate steps to secure our systems,” a division spokesperson mentioned in a press release on the time.

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Published On:

Jul 21, 2023