U.S. Government Email Systems Compromised by Chinese Hackers

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FILE - The Microsoft logo in the Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona, Spain, on March 2, 2023. U.S. officials say state-backed Chinese hackers foiled Microsoft’s cloud-based security to break into unclassified U.S. government email systems at an unspecified number of agencies including the State Department. The extent of the hack was not immediately clear, but a person familiar with the investigation said U.S. military and intelligence agencies were not among those impacted. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra, File)
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Hackers based in China have breached U.S. government email accounts, including two executive branch agencies, one of which was the State Department.

“We did two things immediately. One, we took immediate steps to secure our systems, and two, took immediate steps to notify Microsoft of the event,” State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said.

He wouldn’t comment on who may have carried out the hack, but said anomalous activity was detected last month. He said steps were taken to secure the State Department system and an investigation is underway.

The hackers also reportedly targeted an agency on Capitol Hill, but it’s not clear if they were successful. The hacking effort began in mid-May.

“The incident remains under investigation and we continuously monitor our networks and update our security procedures,” Miller said.


Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

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