26/68 Monday, January 20, 2025
The U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has imposed sanctions on China’s Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology Co., LTD. due to its involvement with the Salt Typhoon hacking group, which recently targeted several U.S. telecommunications and internet service providers. Additionally, OFAC has sanctioned Yin Kecheng, a hacker from Shanghai, who was implicated in breaching the U.S. Treasury Department’s network. According to OFAC, hacker groups linked to the Chinese government continue to attack U.S. government IT systems, including a recent breach of the Treasury Department’s network. This incident highlights the ongoing cyber threats posed by state-sponsored actors from China, targeting U.S. government agencies and critical infrastructure.
The latest incident was detected on December 8, 2024, by BeyondTrust, a privileged access management provider, which alerted the Treasury Department to the attack on its systems. Hackers gained access to non-classified documents and staff computers. The Treasury Department is currently investigating the breach in coordination with the FBI and intelligence agencies to trace the origins of the attack.
Earlier in 2025, the Treasury Department sanctioned Integrity Tech, a Chinese cybersecurity company, for its links to the Flax Typhoon hacking group. The U.S. has also offered a $10 million reward for information related to Chinese state-sponsored hacking groups. The sanctions include freezing assets and prohibiting transactions with individuals or entities involved, aiming to diminish the attackers’ ability to conduct activities that threaten national security.
