CNN
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Chinese hackers breached a U.S. government office that reviews foreign investment for national security threats, three U.S. officials familiar with the matter told CNN.

The theft, which has not been previously reported, indicates Beijing’s keen interest in spying on a US government office that has broad powers to block Chinese investment in the US as tensions between the world’s two superpowers continue. is

The breach was part of a broader intrusion by hackers into the Treasury Department’s unclassified systems. The office targeted by hackers, the Committee on Foreign Investment in America (CFIUS), in December gained greater authority to scrutinize property sales near US military bases. U.S. lawmakers and national security officials have grown concerned that the Chinese government or its proxies could use land acquisition to spy on these bases.

It is just one in a series of alleged Chinese cyber-espionage campaigns that have rocked the US government in the past year and will challenge the incoming Trump administration. A separate Chinese hacking group gained deep access to US telecom networks to spy on the phone communications of senior US political figures, including President-elect Donald Trump, CNN reported. Reported.

US officials are scrambling to assess any national security damage from the hack of unclassified information, which the Treasury Disclosure lawmakers last week.

The hackers also targeted the Treasury’s sanctions office, which just last week imposed sanctions on a Chinese company for its alleged role in cyberattacks, two U.S. officials told CNN. The Washington Post First reported The Sanctions Office was targeted. It was not immediately clear what information the hackers stole from Treasury computers.

One of the U.S. officials said U.S. officials are reviewing the individual documents the hackers accessed and will analyze the information stolen to assess the overall national security implications. Although there is no evidence that classified information was accessed, there is concern that, taken together, the unclassified information could provide useful intelligence to the Chinese.

A Treasury spokesperson did not respond to questions about the hackers targeting CFIUS and instead shared a previous statement from the department.

A Treasury spokesman said the hackers had compromised a “third-party service provider” last month and were “able to remotely access a number of Treasury user workstations and some declassified documents held by those users.” were.”

The statement added that the department had worked “with law enforcement partners across the government to determine the impact of this incident” and that there was no evidence that hackers had compromised Treasury systems or information. Continued access.

“The Treasury takes all threats against our systems and the data it holds very seriously,” the spokesman said. “Over the past four years, Treasury has significantly strengthened its cyber defenses, and we will continue to work closely with both private and public sector partners to protect our financial system from malicious elements.”

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, reiterated China’s long-standing denial that it was involved in hacking operations.

“While meeting with President Biden in Lima [last] This year, President Xi Jinping said there was no evidence to support the unreasonable claim of so-called ‘cyber attacks by China,'” Liu said in an email.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNBC Heck “There is nothing that builds trust in our relationship. [with China]And that he raised the issue with his Chinese counterpart in a call this week.

Yellen leads CFIUS, which includes other cabinet chiefs such as the secretaries of defense and homeland security. Once an obscure office, CFIUS has grown in stature as US-China competition has grown more complex and extended to business transactions in far-flung parts of the US.

CNN First reported in 2023 on a CFIUS review of a company that bought multimillion-dollar land in a county near a major Air Force base in California.

To include the incoming Trump administration. Several cabinet members or other senior staff Those who have called for tougher measures against China over national security concerns include incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz and Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state.

The U.S. military and intelligence agencies are already engaged in aggressive cyber operations against China, but Waltz says they want to do more.

“The United States can no longer afford to defend on cyber alone,” Waltz said Posted on X. “We have to go aggressively and impose costs on those who are stealing our technology and attacking our infrastructure,” he said last month.