Chinese hackers infiltrate US Treasury in major cyberattack, officials tell Congress

A China state-backed actor successfully breached US Treasury Department workstations and accessed “unclassified” documents via a cloud service intrusion earlier this month, officials told a key Senate committee.

The cyber intruders targeted a third-party security system, BeyondTrust, which alerted the Treasury of the breach on Dec. 8, prompting the department to take the compromised service offline, according to a spokesperson.

“There is no evidence indicating the threat actor has continued access to Treasury systems or information,” a Treasury spokesperson told The Post. “Treasury takes very seriously all threats against our systems, and the data it holds.”

“Over the last four years, Treasury has significantly bolstered its cyber defense, and we will continue to work with both private and public sector partners to protect our financial system from threat actors.”

Treasury officials apprised members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs of the breach Monday, according to a letter reviewed by The Post.

BeyondTrust had flagged the breach to the Treasury, revealing that the “threat actor” had obtained a key needed to get remote access to the cloud service.

From there, the hackers were able to overcome security systems in place and get remote access to the materials from Treasury workstations, per officials.

The Treasury is collaborating with the FBI, the Intelligence Community, third-party forensic investigators, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on the matter, per the spokesperson.

News of the hack comes amid heightened concerns about the Chinese hacking group Salt Typhoon.

Salt Typhoon is alleged to have been behind a sweeping telecommunications system hack revealed over the summer that allegedly gave Beijing access to communications by President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance and others.

China has also hacked other critical government departments in the past.

Last year, for instance, Microsoft revealed that a “China-based actor” hacked into accounts affecting over two dozen organizations, including the US State and Commerce Departments.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled to Beijing last year where she caused a stir by bowing to her counterpart as part of a Biden administration effort to mend fences with China.

She also traveled to China in April of this year.

Trade disputes between China and the US are expected to heat up under the incoming Trump administration.

The Post contacted reps for BeyondTrust and China’s embassy in the US for comment.