Hackers originating in China stole approximately 60,000 emails from the unclassified inboxes of 10 State Department employees in a high-profile hack earlier this summer, according to a Senate staff briefing on Wednesday. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was also affected by the hack, and the new details of the hack are likely to only heighten concerns on Capitol Hill about Chinese hacking.
Senior State Department officials revealed new details about the hack during a briefing for staff on Capitol Hill, according to a Senate staffer for Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.).The officials, including State Department Chief Information Officer Kelly Fletcher, told attendees that the hack focused on diplomatic efforts in the Indo-Pacific region and that nine of the 10 compromised email accounts at the State Department belonged to people working on those matters, with another official focused on Europe.
The most sensitive information stolen included victims' travel itineraries and foreign affairs discussions, and at least 10 Social Security numbers were viewed -- or could have been viewed -- through the hack, the staffer said.
State Department officials said hackers breached the 10 accounts using tokens stolen from Microsoft engineers, and a total of 25 entities were affected by the breach. Both numbers are consistent with what Microsoft has reported publicly.
About 30 staff members from both the Republican and Democratic parties attended the meeting, with slightly more Republicans. Asked about the new details, a State Department spokesperson issued a statement saying that the department "takes seriously its responsibility to protect information and continually takes steps to ensure that information is protected. Like all large organizations operating around the world, we closely monitor the state of cybersecurity."
The State Department was better prepared than some of the other organizations hit because a cybersecurity analyst at the agency discovered potential vulnerabilities exploiting email accounts two years ago and helped raise the alert. The alert was labeled "Big Yellow Taxi," POLITICO first reported.
The U.S. State Department has not officially blamed China for the hack, but Raimondo spoke to the Chinese government about the hack of his account during a recent trip to China.
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