US Treasury files hacked by China, Biden issues cybersecurity order

[Karah Rucker]

CHINESE HACKERS GAINED ACCESS TO THOUSANDS OF FILES FROM THE U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT IN A BREACH THAT OCCURRED BETWEEN SEPTEMBER AND NOVEMBER OF LAST YEAR.

U.S. TREASURY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ASKED ABOUT THE INCIDENT ON CAPITOL HILL THIS WEEK – SAY MORE THAN 3 THOUSAND FILES WERE COMPROMISED –

INCLUDING DOCUMENTS FROM HIGH-RANKING TREASURY OFFICIALS –

LIKE TREASURY SECRETARY JANET YELLEN AND HER DEPUTY SECRETARY.

ACCORDING TO OFFICIALS’ TESTIMONY –

THERE WAS A **VULNERABILITY IN A “THIRD-PARTY PRODUCT” PROVIDED BY AN OUTSIDE VENDOR “BEYOND-TRUST.”

DETAILS OF THIS LATEST CHINESE HACK ARE COMING JUST AS PRESIDENT BIDEN ISSUED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER AIMED AT STRENGTHENING SECURITY STANDARDS FOR COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS WITH THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.

REGARDING THE TREASURY HACK –

THE COMPANY “BEYOND TRUST” ALERTED THE GOVERNMENT IN DECEMBER OF THE COMPROMISE.

SAYING 419 TREASURY COMPUTERS WERE IMPACTED – BUT SAY ONLY **UNCLASSIFIED DATA WAS TAKEN.

IN RESPONSE TO A GROWING THREAT OF CHINESE HACKING –

BIDEN’S ORDER MANDATES SOFTWARE PROVIDERS UNAFFILIATED WITH THE GOVERNMENT WHO ARE GRANTED CONTRACTS **MUST DEMONSTRATE THEIR PRODUCTS ARE SECURE UNDER NEW SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR CLOUD PROVIDERS AND ANY INTERNET-CONNECTED DEVICES.

IF PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP KEEPS BIDEN’S EXECUTIVE ORDER IN PLACE –

THEN BY 2027 –

THE GOVERNMENT WILL PURCHASE ONLY PRODUCTS WITH A “US CYBER TRUST MARK” – A NEW LABEL THAT DEMONSTRATES A DEVICE’S SECURITY.

OUTGOING FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY SAT DOWN WITH CBS’ 60 MINUTES THIS PAST WEEK – 

SAYING “CHINA’S CYBER CAPABILITIES ARE **THE DEFINING THREAT OF OUR GENERATION.”

“The greatest longterm threat of our country in my view is represented by the chinese government which i consider the defining threat of our generation.”

“China’s cyber program is by far the world’s largest, bigger than that of every nation combined and has stolen more data than every nation combined.”  

THANKS FOR WATCHING OUR NEWS UPDATE.

EARLIER THIS WEEK WE COVERED IN DETAIL WRAY’S INTERVIEW WITH 60 MINUTES –

WHERE HE SAYS CHINA IS PREPOSITIONED TO “WREAK HAVOC” “AT A TIME AND PLACE OF ITS CHOOSING.”

YOU CAN FIND THAT STORY BY DOWNLOADING THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS MOBILE APP – OR VISIT US ONLINE AT SAN DOT COM.