The sanctions come days after the Treasury disclosed that a China state-sponsored hacking group had breached its systems earlier this year
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Representative image of China-sponsored hackers. Image Credit: Freepik
The United States on Friday (January 3) imposed sanctions on a Beijing-based hacking group with ties to the Chinese government.
Washington accused the group of targeting critical US government infrastructure in cyberattacks dating back to 2021.
The Treasury Department said the sanctions targeted Integrity Technology Group for its role in cyberattacks on US entities, including those in critical infrastructure sectors. The department described the company as a significant contractor for the Chinese government.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that hackers working for Integrity Tech, a.k.a ‘Flax Typhoon’, were operating at the direction of the Chinese government, “targeting critical infrastructure in the United States and overseas.”
Acting Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said the US would continue to hold cyber actors and their enablers accountable. “The Treasury Department will not hesitate to hold malicious cyber actors and their enablers accountable for their actions,” Smith said in a statement.
Backdrop to the sanctions
The sanctions come days after the Treasury disclosed that a China state-sponsored hacking group had breached its systems earlier this year. The unnamed actor gained access to some of the department’s workstations and unclassified documents by compromising a third-party cybersecur