US Government Condemns China for Hacking Senior Officials' Emails

The United States government has issued a strong warning to China after it was revealed that Chinese hackers had breached the emails of several senior US officials, including those of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

During a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken conveyed to China's top diplomat Wang Yi that any action that targets the US government, US companies, or American citizens is of deep concern to the US and that appropriate action will be taken to hold those responsible accountable.

The hacking operation, which was revealed by Microsoft on Tuesday, involved a stealthy Chinese hacking group that exploited a secret flaw in Microsoft's authentication software to covertly break into email accounts belonging to 25 unnamed organizations.

Since the news broke, several other victims have come forward, including personnel at the State Department and the US House of Representatives.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called the accusations "disinformation." The Commerce Department has implemented a series of export control policies against China, curbing the transfer of sensitive technologies.

However, the department has declined to comment on the specific intrusion against Raimondo.

A report by the US inspector general's office in March criticized the Commerce Department's cybersecurity incident response program for its "fundamental deficiencies" and poor handling of simulated cyberattacks.

The FBI has confirmed that no classified information was taken during the hacking operation, which was highly targeted and only accessed email inboxes without destroying data.