The State and Commerce Departments were among the government agencies targeted by Chinese hackers last month in the weeks preceding Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing.
The hacks were probably affiliated with China’s military and spy services, the New York Times reported, and they began after months of increasing tensions between Washington and Beijing. Republicans have called on the administration to halt its pursuit of a thaw, given the spy-balloon incident, China’s ongoing cooperation with Cuba, and the country’s treatment of the Uyghurs and Taiwan.
The State Department learned that a number of employees had their accounts compromised on June 16. Blinken’s trip nonetheless went ahead later that day and for the next several days. Other administration officials either have made or will make visits to China, including Treasury secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry.
News of the hacks was first disclosed by Microsoft. The company said in a Tuesday report that approximately 25 organizations had been targeted since May by a China-based adversary called Storm-0558. When the State Department learned of the hacks, it contacted the company because the hack penetrated Microsoft infrastructure.
“These well-resourced adversaries draw no distinction between trying to compromise business or personal accounts associated with targeted organizations, since it only takes one successfully compromised account login to gain persistent access, exfiltrate information and achieve espionage objectives,” explained Microsoft.
No national-security information appears to have been accessed in the State Department breaches, but the investigation is still at a preliminary stage. The Commerce Department, which is attempting to place export controls on China to prevents its military from accessing American technology, was also affected.
The hacks were surgical in nature and unlike previous breaches that were much broader, such as the Russian intelligence breaches of 2019 and 2020.
Senate Intelligence chairman Mark Warner (D., Va.) said that his committee is closely monitoring the situation.
“It’s clear that the PRC is steadily improving its cyber-collection capabilities directed against the U.S. and our allies,” explained Warner. “Close coordination between the U.S. government and the private sector will be critical to countering this threat.”
The revelations Wednesday give further ammunition to Republicans who say that Biden ought to stop turning a blind eye to China. The administration has not yet formally attributed the attack to Beijing, which denied Chinese involvement.
“China is testing the waters to see what they can get away with and learning that it’s actually a lot,” explained former Trump-administration official Cliff Sims to the Wall Street Journal.
Representative Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) told National Review that “the State Department knew Communist China was carrying out an extensive hacking campaign to collect intelligence against the United States, yet Secretary Blinken still went to Beijing, legitimizing the CCP’s aggressive behaviors in the process.”
“This is unacceptable and exactly why I called for the cancellation of Secretary Blinken’s trip,” added Stefanik. “President Biden’s desire for a ‘thaw’ in relations with the CCP continues to be the incorrect approach. Instead, we must pursue peace through strength in order to deter further CCP aggression.”