1 of 1 Image of laptop — Photo: Marcos Serra Lima/G1 Image of laptop — Photo: Marcos Serra Lima/G1
Chinabased hackers have hacked the email accounts of several US government agencies, the computer giant Microsoft announced on Thursday. According to the company, the hackers were looking for information from US government agencies.
The company launched an investigation into “anomalous email activity” on June 16.
According to the American company, a user named Storm0558 has accessed the email accounts of around 25 organizations, including government agencies.
Microsoft has not identified the targets attacked, but a US State Department spokesman said unusual activity had been detected and immediate action was taken to protect information systems. The government has not officially released any further information on the incident.
According to The Washington Post newspaper, the armed forces, the secret service and the military’s email accounts did not appear to have been attacked. The hacked email accounts were not classified as confidential.
However, the newspaper reported that the email addresses of the State Department and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo were reached.
CNN said the Chinese hackers targeted a small number of federal agencies and the accounts of specific employees within each agency.
The US government promises to respond
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, director of the office of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, that the hackers will be held accountable.
According to a US government official who asked not to be named, Blinken made it clear to the Chinese that any action taken against the US government, US companies and US citizens is a matter of great concern and steps will be taken to bring those responsible to justice to be held accountable.
In a text published on a Microsoft blog, Charlie Bell, the company’s executive vice president, said the assessment was that “this adversary is focused on espionage and how to gain access to email systems to gather intelligence data “.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan addressed the incident in an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America on Wednesday, noting that it was discovered “very quickly”.
“The matter is still under investigation, so I will put it on hold as we gather more information in consultation with Microsoft and will continue to report publicly as we learn more,” he said.
US Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the panel is “closely monitoring what appears to constitute a significant cybersecurity breach by Chinese intelligence agencies.”