WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last month, the U.S. State Department discovered that Chinese hackers compromised some government email accounts that were being hosted in the Microsoft Cloud.
The hack began sometime in May and the hackers were able to supposedly enjoy one month of free access to the compromised accounts. The U.S. government is not saying whose accounts were hacked and what information was stolen.
The hack coincided with U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken’s, trip to China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jipeng. The meeting was important because it was the first time a high-ranking U.S. Official had travelled to China in five years. Moreover, as tensions mounted between the two super powers over the Chinese spy balloon fiasco and China’s possible support of Russia during that country’s invasion of Ukraine, the hackers hoped to gain the upper hand ahead of Blinken’s trip to China.
To be fair, both countries are vying to dominate the cyber-world that has been forced upon the citizens of the world.
Some content by Axios (Aida Amer), Reuters, New York Times, and Washington Post.
