The U.S. Treasury announced on Friday that it has imposed sanctions on a Beijing-based cybersecurity company for its alleged involvement in a series of hacking incidents targeting critical U.S. infrastructure. Integrity Technology Group, Inc. was hit with sanctions by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for carrying out multiple hacks against U.S. entities, including those associated with Flax Typhoon, a Chinese state-sponsored campaign focused on U.S. critical infrastructure.
These sanctions were implemented shortly after the Treasury revealed that Chinese hackers had gained remote access to several workstations within the U.S. Treasury Department, as well as unclassified documents, in a significant cybersecurity breach. Treasury Acting Under Secretary Bradley Smith emphasized the U.S. government’s commitment to combatting cyber threats while working collaboratively to bolster cybersecurity defenses in both the public and private sectors.
The issue came to light on December 8 when a third-party software service provider called BeyondTrust notified the Treasury Department that hackers had compromised a crucial key used by the vendor to secure a cloud-based service utilized for remote technical support to employees. The sanctions imposed on Friday do not appear to be directly linked to the December 8 breach.
The sanctions entail blocking access to U.S. property and bank accounts and prohibiting the sanctioned individuals and entities from engaging in any business transactions with Americans. U.S. officials are currently grappling with the repercussions of a large-scale Chinese cyberespionage initiative known as Salt Typhoon, which enabled Beijing officials to intercept private communications, including texts and phone conversations, of an undisclosed number of Americans.
Overall, these developments underscore the ongoing challenges faced by the U.S. in safeguarding its critical infrastructure and private communications from foreign cyber threats, particularly those originating from state-sponsored campaigns like Flax Typhoon and Salt Typhoon. The Treasury Department’s swift response in imposing sanctions serves as a signal of the U.S. government’s determination to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities and mitigate the risks posed by malicious actors seeking to exploit sensitive information and infrastructure.
