Senator Tim Scott, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Representative French Hill, vice chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on December 31, requesting a Congressional briefing by January 10.

They stated that in this briefing, information should be provided about the information accessed by the hackers, how the attack occurred, and the measures taken by the Treasury Department to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Senator Scott and Representative Hill, in particular, stated that this cyber breach is very concerning. Treasury is one of the institutions that holds the most sensitive information in the United States, and it was emphasized that this information should be protected.

The letter states that the Treasury Department contains sensitive data such as tax information, business beneficiary ownership, suspicious activity reports, and that the theft or monitoring of such information by foreign state actors poses serious threats to the national security of the United States.

Therefore, it was stated that it was unacceptable for an APT (advanced persistent threat) actor supported by the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate the Treasury’s information systems.

The beginning of the incident dates back to a cyber attack on the computer stations of Treasury employees on December 2, 2024. As a result of this attack, some “unclassified” documents were accessed.

Treasury officials confirmed that the attack was carried out by a Chinese state-backed APT actor. This incident demonstrated how vulnerable the federal government’s information systems are.

Moreover, China’s denial that it was responsible for the attack and its statement to Reuters that the US carried out smear attacks against China without any concrete basis also drew attention.

In its letter to lawmakers on December 30, the Treasury Department stated that it would provide more information after this attack and that they would submit an additional report within 30 days in accordance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act. This report will contain more detailed information about how the attack occurred and the security measures taken by the Treasury.

This incident once again demonstrated how important cybersecurity measures are and how careful federal governments, especially institutions that protect national security and personal data, need to be.

Despite China’s denial of its attacks, it becomes clear that such cyber threats must occupy an important place in government and private sector information security strategies. Additionally, one wonders what China’s attitude will be towards international accusations on this issue.

This cyber attack, which took place in late 2024, may lead states not only in the United States but around the world to review their cyber security strategies. If effective security measures are not taken against such threats, larger attacks and data breaches may occur.