US Sanctions Chinese Entities for Telecoms, Treasury Hacks (1)

The Biden administration on Friday announced sanctions on two Chinese entities accused of cyberattacks, including a firm it said is directly involved in the recent espionage campaign against US telecommunications firms and a hacker behind the recent breach of Treasury Department computers.

The telecoms system campaign, which the US has said was carried out by state-sponsored actors known as Salt Typhoon, compromised the networks of at least nine US telecommunications firms and led to the collection of audio and data of high-profile officials including President-elect Donald Trump.

In addition, the Treasury said it was sanctioning Yin Kecheng, a Shanghai-based hacker it believes was responsible for the recent hack of the Treasury, which accessed thousands of files on hundreds of computers used by officials, including outgoing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology Co., is a cybersecurity company that the Treasury said maintained strong ties with China’s Ministry of State Security — Beijing’s main intelligence and security agency. The sanctions will block US transactions with the company, and any US ownership or control of Sichuan Juxinhe must be reported to the Treasury.

Yin is believed to have been operating as a cyber actor for over a decade, and is affiliated with the MSS, the Treasury said in a statement.

Salt Typhoon has collected intelligence and targeted phones belonging to Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, among others. The attackers also spied on communications belonging to what the FBI has said is a “limited number” of people in government and politics.

Along with the sanctions, the State Department on Friday offered a reward of up to $10 million for information that would identify or lead to the location of anyone launching cyber attacks on US critical infrastructure on behalf of a foreign government.

(Updates with State Department reward in final paragraph.)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jamie Tarabay in Washington at jtarabay2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Andrew Martin at amartin146@bloomberg.net

Ramsey Al-Rikabi, Christopher Anstey

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