Hackers linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) compromised the email accounts of Nicholas Burns, Ambassador to China, and Daniel Krittenbrink, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, in a hack disclosed last week, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The hacking of the two senior diplomats comes ahead of a four-day trip to Beijing by the president’s special envoy for climate, John Kerry, to discuss environmental policy with Chinese Communist Party officials. according to Anonymous sources cited by the WSJ told us. The extent of the hack is currently unknown, but it is believed the hackers may have accessed hundreds of thousands of US government emails.
Barnes and Krittenbrink are believed to be two senior State Department officials targeted by hackers, according to unnamed sources cited by the Journal. The e-mail accounts of the two diplomats are not believed to contain highly classified information or documents.
Krittenbrink, along with Secretary of State Anthony Brinken, visited China a month ago, according to the WSJ, and Krittenbrink, Burns and Blinken all met with Chinese officials and Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. The hackers are not believed to have compromised the email accounts of Blinken or his aides. (Related: U.S. power grid faces ‘worrying’ threat from Chinese hackers, expert warns lawmakers)
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Nevertheless, according to the WSJ, compromised messages may have allowed hackers with ties to the Chinese Communist Party to assess general U.S. strategy ahead of diplomatic talks between Biden administration officials and Chinese Communist Party representatives. Anonymous sources cited by the WSJ said the approximate number of compromised emails is preliminary and could increase further as the hack investigation progresses.
According to the WSJ, the wave of hacks that compromised the communications of two diplomats was first revealed to the public last week.
State Department cybersecurity officials first discovered the breach, according to the WSJ, and Microsoft said the breach wasn’t discovered until mid-June. Mr. Blinken will visit China on June 18th and 19th, according to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen visited from July 6 to July 9, according to a State Department press release, according to To the press release of the Ministry of Finance.
Kelly tried to strike a deal with the Chinese Communist Party on climate policy, but returned to the state with little success in his efforts. Kerry said Wednesday that “nothing stands in the way” of the Biden administration’s desire to find common ground with China on climate change-related issues and efforts.
“For security reasons, we are not sharing additional information regarding the nature and scope of this cybersecurity incident at this time,” a State Department spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement.
The State Department “continues to monitor and respond to activity of concern on our networks,” the spokesperson continued, adding that “the investigation is ongoing and we are unable to provide further details at this time.”
The disclosure of the compromised emails follows July’s discovery that Chinese Communist Party-linked hackers accessed the email accounts of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimond. Tensions between the world’s two superpowers have intensified in recent months, with the two countries trading export controls restricting access to key technology products and components.
The White House and the White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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