China-linked hackers access emails of US ambassador to Beijing
Beijing-linked hackers accessed the unclassified emails of Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to China, and another state department official, according to the WSJ, after officials last week admitted the cyber-hack had also compromised the email account of Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce. The hackers exploited a flaw in Microsoft’s cloud-computing software (now fixed) to steal emails from US government agencies and other clients. The WSJ said the hackers could have gained insight into US planning for recent visits to China by senior US officials, although it seems the email account of Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state who recently visited Beijing, wasn’t directly accessed.
Photograph Leah Millis/Pool/AFP via Getty Images