A Chinese hacker broke into the US Treasury Department in early December, according to a letter from the Treasury Department to lawmakers on Monday. The department called it a "major incident." It is working with the FBI and others to investigate what happened.
A spokesman for China in Washington, D.C., said the claims are not true. He said they are part of a "smear attack" against China with no proof.
The Treasury Department said the hacker got in by using a key from BeyondTrust, a company that helps Treasury workers with computer problems from far away. Since the hack was found, BeyondTrust has been taken offline.
So far, it looks like the hacker was only able to see some files that were not secret. They also got into the computers of some Treasury workers. The department is still trying to figure out exactly what the hacker saw and did.
The Treasury Department found out about the hack on December 8th. BeyondTrust first saw something strange on December 2nd. But it took them three days to know for sure they had been hacked.
The hackers may have been able to create new accounts or change passwords during those three days. Since they were spies, they were probably looking for information, not trying to make money.
The Treasury Department said it takes threats very seriously and will continue to work to protect its data from attacks. It will give lawmakers more details in 30 days.
The Chinese spokesman said it is hard to know where hackers come from. He said the US should not blame China without real proof. He wants the US to stop saying bad things about China and hacking.
This is not the first time the US has blamed Chinese hackers for a major attack. In December, phone companies were hacked, which may have allowed the hackers to access phone records for many Americans.
The Treasury Department hack is a major concern. It shows that even important parts of the US government can be hacked. The department has a lot of work to do to find out what happened and prevent it from occurring again.
A spokesman for China in Washington, D.C., said the claims are not true. He said they are part of a "smear attack" against China with no proof.
The Treasury Department said the hacker got in by using a key from BeyondTrust, a company that helps Treasury workers with computer problems from far away. Since the hack was found, BeyondTrust has been taken offline.
So far, it looks like the hacker was only able to see some files that were not secret. They also got into the computers of some Treasury workers. The department is still trying to figure out exactly what the hacker saw and did.
The Treasury Department found out about the hack on December 8th. BeyondTrust first saw something strange on December 2nd. But it took them three days to know for sure they had been hacked.
The hackers may have been able to create new accounts or change passwords during those three days. Since they were spies, they were probably looking for information, not trying to make money.
The Treasury Department said it takes threats very seriously and will continue to work to protect its data from attacks. It will give lawmakers more details in 30 days.
The Chinese spokesman said it is hard to know where hackers come from. He said the US should not blame China without real proof. He wants the US to stop saying bad things about China and hacking.
This is not the first time the US has blamed Chinese hackers for a major attack. In December, phone companies were hacked, which may have allowed the hackers to access phone records for many Americans.
The Treasury Department hack is a major concern. It shows that even important parts of the US government can be hacked. The department has a lot of work to do to find out what happened and prevent it from occurring again.
