The US on Friday slapped sanctions on a Beijing-based hacking outfit with links to the Chinese government, accusing it of targeting “critical” US government infrastructure.
The US Department of the Treasury said it had targeted Integrity Technology Group Inc for its role in multiple attacks since 2021 against US entities often within “critical infrastructure sectors.”
US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said Integrity Tech was “a large PRC [People’s Republic of China] government contractor with ties to the [Chinese] Ministry of State Security.”
Photo: Reuters
The hackers working for Integrity Tech, “known to the private sector as Flax Typhoon, were working at the direction of the PRC government, targeting critical infrastructure in the United States and overseas,” Miller said.
“The Treasury Department will not hesitate to hold malicious cyberactors and their enablers accountable for their actions,” US Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brad Smith said.
Friday’s announcement came days after the Treasury Department said a Chinese state-sponsored actor was behind a cyberbreach resulting in access to some of its workstations, according to a letter to US Congress seen by Agence France-Presse.
The actor, who was not named, compromised a third-party cybersecurity service provider and was able to remotely access the Treasury Department workstations and some unclassified documents, according to a Treasury Department spokesperson.
In its announcement on Friday, the Treasury Department said that “Chinese malicious cyber actors” were responsible for the “recent targeting of Treasury’s own IT infrastructure,” but did not accuse Integrity Tech of being behind the attack.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS