Chinese hackers accessed Yellen's computer in US Treasury breach, Bloomberg News reports

Published 01/16/2025, 07:02 PM
Updated 01/16/2025, 07:37 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivers remarks on the Biden-Harris Administration's Economic Record during an event of the New York Association for Business Economics, in New York City, U.S., January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File P

(Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's computer was hacked and unclassified files were accessed as part of a broader breach of the Treasury Department by Chinese state-sponsored hackers, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The computers of two of Yellen's lieutenants, Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Acting Under Secretary Brad Smith, were also breached, the report said.

The hackers accessed fewer than 50 files on Yellen's machine, Bloomberg said.

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for a comment.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen delivers remarks on the Biden-Harris Administration's Economic Record during an event of the New York Association for Business Economics, in New York City, U.S., January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo

The hack, what the Treasury called a "major incident", happened in December when Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached the department's computer security guardrails by compromising third-party cybersecurity service provider BeyondTrust, according to Treasury officials.

"China has always opposed all forms of hacker attacks," Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, said at the time.

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