Treasury Department emails hacked
Breach includes theft of encryption keys
WASHINGTON — Dozens of email accounts at the Treasury Department were compromised in a massive breach of U.S. government agencies being blamed on Russia, with hackers breaking into systems used by the department’s highest-ranking officials, a senator said Monday after being briefed on the matter.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-ore., provided new details of the hack following a briefing to the Senate Finance Committee by the IRS and Treasury Department.
Wyden said that though there is no indication that taxpayer data was compromised, the hack “appears to be significant,” including through the compromise of dozens of email accounts and access to the Departmental Offices division of the Treasury Department, which the senator said was home to its highest-ranking officials. In addition, the breach appears to involve the theft of encryption keys, Wyden said.
“Treasury still does not know all of the actions taken by hackers or precisely what information was stolen,” Wyden said in a statement.
It is also not clear what Russian hackers intend to do with any
emails they may have accessed.
A Treasury Department spokeswoman declined to comment on Wyden’s statement.
Treasury was among the earliest known agencies reported to have been affected in a breach that now encompasses a broad spectrum of departments.
The effects and consequences of the hack are still being assessed, though the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity arm
said in a statement that the intrusion posed a “grave” risk to government and private networks.
Tech giant Microsoft, which has helped respond to the breach, revealed last week that it had identified more than 40 government agencies, think tanks, nongovernmental organizations and IT companies infiltrated by the hackers. Microsoft notified the Treasury Department that dozens of email accounts were compromised.