It was discovered that a group of Chinese hackers illegally accessed the US State Department account in Microsoft Outlook and stole about 60,000 emails.

In July 2023, it was reported that a group of Chinese hackers had gained unauthorized access to the email accounts of American government organizations . In response to a question from Senator Eric Schmidt and others, the U.S. State Department announced that 10 State Department email accounts were compromised by a Chinese hacking group and 60,000 emails were stolen. I made it clear.

Chinese hackers stole 60,000 emails from senior State Department officials in May, source says | CNN Politics
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/28/politics/china-hackers-state-department-emails-senate-briefing/index.html

In July 2023, Microsoft and the White House reported the results of an investigation into an attack on the US government by a group of Chinese hackers. The report revealed that the Chinese hacker group ``Storm-0558'' had compromised Microsoft Outlook email accounts operated by 25 organizations, including American government agencies, since May 2023. However, the specific damage was not revealed.

It turns out that a Chinese hacking group has illegally accessed the mailbox of a US government organization - GIGAZINE

Schmidt said that following the July 2023 report, a bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to the State Department demanding an explanation. The State Department held a briefing session with members of Congress on September 28, 2023, in response to the letter.

Yesterday, in response to my bipartisan July letter asking for answers, the State Department briefed the Senate on the hack of State Department emails earlier this year.

Here's what we learned, & why we need to harden our defenses against these hacks. https://t.co/5rQiNwsXHq

— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) September 28, 2023

At the briefing, ``10 State Department email accounts were compromised by a Chinese hacking group, and 60,000 emails were stolen.'' ``Some of the stolen emails included emails related to U.S. diplomatic strategy.'' It is said that extensive damage has been revealed. Additionally, nine of the 10 compromised accounts were managed by employees working in the East Asia/Pacific region, and one was managed by employees working in Europe. Furthermore, the hacker group also obtained 'all email addresses managed by the State Department.' As a result, hacking activities targeting the State Department may increase.

- Roughly 60,000 emails were exfiltrated

- 9 of the individuals whose emails were accessed were focused on East Asia and the Pacific

- High-risk components that were accessed included future travel itineraries and diplomatic deliberations

— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) September 28, 2023

Microsoft has acknowledged that the attack by the hacker group targeted Microsoft systems. ``The potential risks of relying on a single vendor for security technology need to be critically evaluated,'' Schmidt said, pointing out that reliance on Microsoft may have caused large-scale hacking damage. .

In addition, operations by hacker groups with strong ties to the Chinese government target not only the United States but also countries around the world, including Japan. On September 27, 2023, the Cabinet Cyber Security Center (NISC) and the National Police Agency reported that the hacker group 'BlackTech' with a Chinese background was hacking the government, industry, technology, media, electronics, and telecommunications sectors in East Asia, including Japan, and the United States. We are announcing the existence of a cyber attack targeting the Internet and calling for attention.

Japanese and American authorities warn that ``Chinese government hackers are installing backdoors into networks such as Cisco routers'' - GIGAZINE