Marriott breach traced to China; U.S. plans response

WASHINGTON — The cyberattack on the Marriott hotel chain that collected personal details of roughly 500 million guests was part of a Chinese intelligence-gathering effort that also hacked health insurers and the security clearance files of millions more Americans, according to two people briefed on the investigation.

The hackers, they said, are suspected of working on behalf of the Ministry of State Security, the country’s Communist-controlled civilian spy agency. The discovery comes as the Trump administration is planning actions targeting China’s trade, cyber and economic policies, perhaps within days.

Those moves include indictments against Chinese hackers working for the intelligence services and the military, according to four government officials. The Trump administration also plans to declassify intelligence reports to reveal Chinese efforts dating to at least 2014 to build a database containing names of executives and U.S. government officials with security clearances.

Other options include an executive order intended to make it harder for Chinese companies to obtain critical components for telecommunications equipment, a senior U.S. official said.

The moves stem from a growing concern within the administration that the 90-day trade truce negotiated two weeks ago by President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires might do little to change China’s behavior.

The hacking of Marriott’s Starwood chain, which was discovered only in September and revealed late last month, is not expected to be part of the coming indictments. But two of the government officials said it has added urgency to the administration’s crackdown, given that Marriott is the top hotel provider for U.S. government and military personnel.