Chinese hackers have broken into the e-mail account of the US ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. It was supposed to be part of an espionage operation that probably involved hundreds of thousands of individual e-mails from US government employees.
Daniel Kritenbrink, Deputy Secretary of State for East Asia, was also hacked as part of an extensive espionage operation by authorities Chinarevealed earlier this month by Microsoft, the “WSJ” reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
State Department USA when asked by the WSJ about the reported breach of the two diplomats’ accounts, he declined to provide any details and said an investigation into the Chinese spy operation was underway.
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“WSJ”: Chinese hackers hacked into the accounts of American officialsShutterstock
Beijing calls accusations ‘definformation’
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to the WSJ’s request for comment, but the Chinese Foreign Ministry previously called the accusations “disinformation.”
Microsoft reported last week that Chinese hackers cracked one of its digital keys and used a vulnerability in its code to steal emails from US government agencies and other customers.
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