China's Hacking Attack Against US Officials Sasar Trade Minister

JAKARTA - The United States Trade Minister, Gina Raimondo, is among a group of senior US officials whose emails were hacked by a group of parties that Microsoft said came from China. This is said to be a source who was informed of the matter, because the impact of this digital theft continues to spread.

Foreign Minister Antony Blinken told China's top diplomat Wang Yi at a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, July 13. "Any action targeting the US government, US companies, or American nationals is "very worrying for us, and we will take appropriate action to account for those responsible," said another source, a senior US State Department official.

On Tuesday, July 11, Microsoft revealed that a Chinese covert hacking operation had exploited vulnerabilities in the company's authentication software to secretly hack the email accounts of 25 unnamed organizations.

Since the news emerged, several victims other than the Commerce Department have admitted that they were affected, including staff at the State Department and the US House of Representatives. Hacking activity began in May and lasted for about a month.

China's Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations and called the allegations "disinformation" in a statement to Reuters earlier this week.

Raimondo's department has implemented a series of export control policies against China, limiting semiconductor transfers and other sensitive technologies.

Meanwhile, a Commerce Department spokesman said on Wednesday July 12 that Microsoft had informed the agency of "compromised on Microsoft's 365 Office system, and the Department immediately took action to respond." However, the spokesperson declined to comment on the intrusion of Raimondo's email in particular.

A report by the US inspector general's office in March also sharply criticized the Commerce Department's "fundamental shortcomings" in a response program to cybersecurity events, stating that the department violated security protocols, did not properly use cyber protection tools, and handled simulated cyberattacks poorly.

A senior FBI official said last Wednesday that no classified information was taken during the hacking operation. The hack was heavily targeted, only accessing the electronic mail box (inbox) and not destroying data.