Chinese hackers breached U.S. government emails on eve of Blinken visit, officials say

State-backed Chinese hackers foiled Microsoft’s cloud-based security in hacking the email accounts of U.S. officials.

State-backed Chinese hackers foiled Microsoft's cloud-based security in hacking the email accounts of officials at multiple U.S. agencies that deal with China ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Beijing last month, officials said Wednesday.

The surgical, targeted espionage accessed the email of a small number of individuals at an unspecified number of U.S. agencies and was discovered in mid-June by the State Department, U.S. officials said. They said none of the breached systems were classified, nor was any of the stolen data.

The hacked officials included Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, The Washington Post reported, citing anonymous U.S. officials. Export controls imposed by her agency have stung multiple Chinese companies.

One person familiar with the investigation said U.S. military and intelligence agencies were not among the agencies impacted in the monthlong spying campaign, which also affected unnamed foreign governments.

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The officials spoke on condition they not be further identified.

In a technical advisory Wednesday and a call with reporters, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI said Microsoft determined the hackers gained access by impersonating authorised users.