National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated on Sunday that the Chinese hackers who infiltrated the email accounts of various US government agencies did not gain access to any classified federal information.
Sullivan clarified, “The breach occurred in Microsoft’s cloud system, and from there, they were able to access the unclassified email accounts of US government officials. It’s important to note that these were unclassified accounts, so no classified information was compromised.”
US officials have confirmed that Chinese hackers, backed by the state, targeted individuals within multiple US agencies, including the State Department, just before Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to Beijing last month.
Sullivan further explained, “It was actually the US government that discovered the hack because we have significantly strengthened our cyber defenses over the past few years. Once we discovered the breach, we immediately shut it down and have taken measures to ensure that this vulnerability no longer exists.”
The breach was discovered in mid-June, though officials did not disclose the specific individuals who were hacked. However, according to a report by The Washington Post, citing unidentified officials, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was the only known Cabinet-level official to have their account compromised.
Sullivan stressed that these incidents have been occurring for a “long time” across multiple administrations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
© 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Denial of responsibility! VigourTimes is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
