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[cormack12]

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3weye2j0e7o

https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/us-treasurys-workstations-hacked-cyberattack-by-china-afp-reports-2024-12-30/

Dec 30 (Reuters) - Chinese state-sponsored hackers broke into the U.S. Treasury Department this month and stole documents from its workstations, according to a letter to lawmakers, opens new tab that was provided to Reuters on Monday.

The hackers compromised third-party cybersecurity service provider BeyondTrust and were able to access unclassified documents, the letter said, calling it a "major incident."

According to the letter, hackers "gained access to a key used by the vendor to secure a cloud-based service used to remotely provide technical support for Treasury Departmental Offices (DO) end users. With access to the stolen key, the threat actor was able to override the service’s security, remotely access certain Treasury DO user workstations, and access certain unclassified documents maintained by those users."

The Treasury Department said it was alerted to the breach by BeyondTrust on Dec. 8 and that it was working with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI to assess the hack's impact.

 

[Badlucktroll]

 

[Rockondevil]

China doing nefarious shit.

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

I have no idea why the west won't wake up. China is a threat. CCP would have us all sterilised and die out if they could get away with. Then repopulate the planet with han Chinese; then rewrite human history.

 

[rm082e]

I have no idea why the west won't wake up. China is a threat. CCP would have us all sterilised and die out if they could get away with. Then repopulate the planet with han Chinese; then rewrite human history.

What more should the west do to "wake up" exactly?

 

[Pegasus Actual]

Try it again in 3 weeks assholes!

 

[Crystal Winters]

Question: This topic does not violate site rules about politics, does it? I ask because I wish there were topics like this here. Topics like the Ukraine situation and also the Israel Gaza situation as well. I don't want to go to left leaning sites to get my news discussion from and YouTube comment sections have always been trash. On topic: is this just an escalation on their part? I have been wondering lately if they are setting all this up to eventually go to war against the US and other areas of the world.

 

[AJUMP23]

We battle not against rockets and bombs but against bits and bytes.

 

[FunkMiller]

China is a threat. CCP would have us all sterilised and die out if they could get away with.

Good job there are no major industrialist billionaires in western major positions of power who rely on China for profits!

 

[Unknown?]

This is why we should never have digital-only currency.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Try it again in 3 weeks assholes!

What the fuck? This guy barely knows how to run a computer let alone secure them.

 

[Ownage]

1337

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

What more should the west do to "wake up" exactly?

Coffee and an 8ball of coke .

But seriously start weening off china. It was all well and good in the 90s when China was selling it self as a friendly up and coming economy. It's then used it's wealth to undermine the west, destroy our democracy and building it's entire armed forces to take on the US navy.

 

[rm082e]

On topic: is this just an escalation on their part? I have been wondering lately if they are setting all this up to eventually go to war against the US and other areas of the world.

Xi has isolated himself almost completely, so it seems like no one really knows what's going on in his head at this point. However, here are some things to consider:

• Despite all the fear mongering about China's military expansion, their Navy is pathetic and incompetent compared to the US Navy. Most of their ships can't sail very far from shore. They can make some trouble in their own back yard, but even their neighbors haven't been intimated by their antics.
• China imports the vast majority of it's food, food supply inputs, and energy. If they start any major shit with the US, our Navy can stick a few ships out there to block their imports, and they're done. They would suffer a major famine in 6 months. And with Russia in the state they're in, they can't help.
• Their Army is just as corrupt, if not more so, than the Russian army. We've seen how poorly the Russians performed in Ukraine. China would likely be even worse. Meanwhile the US is fresh off 20 years of war in the middle east with all the lessons learned there. If we actually got into a shooting war with them, it would be over in a matter of days.
• China is dying out. The one child policy has put them in a state of demographic collapse. They have more old people than young, and so few women making babies their population is likely to drop by half within a few decades. As a result, they aren't consuming products anymore, because it's young people who do the bulk of the consuming. There is no economic model for a society that has a bunch of old people and few young people - the math is just upside down. This is a recipe for disaster when you have an autocrat running the place. There's nothing he can do to keep the system from failing, but he also can't allow himself to be blamed for the failure.

Realistically, hackers hack. This is normal. If you follow this stuff, state actors from all sides are constantly hacking each other. The real question is what actual damage was done, if any? It doesn't sound like that information is available yet.

 

[IFireflyl]

Question: This topic does not violate site rules about politics, does it? I ask because I wish there were topics like this here. Topics like the Ukraine situation and also the Israel Gaza situation as well. I don't want to go to left leaning sites to get my news discussion from and YouTube comment sections have always been trash.

News =/= Politics

You can make most news about politics if you want to, but this isn't a political issue. It's a national security issue, and this can absolutely be discussed as long as it remains on topic. It's similar to how we had a thread for Russia and Ukraine war, Hamas and Israel, et cetera.

 

[rm082e]

Coffee and an 8ball of coke .

But seriously start weening off china. It was all well and good in the 90s when China was selling it self as a friendly up and coming economy. It's then used it's wealth to undermine the west, destroy our democracy and building it's entire armed forces to take on the US navy.

We started years ago:

A Reshoring Renaissance Is Underway
The Return of Manufacturing: North America’s Reshoring Movement
Why the Reshoring Renaissance is the Future of U.S. Manufacturing

At this point Chinese labor is more than twice as expensive as Mexican, and the Mexicans are more skilled. Not to mention South East Asia has been a great place for cheap electronics production. But it takes time. China is currently in decline, so we're ramping up production elsewhere. Obama, Trump and Biden all took steps in that direction, so it's not really a political issue - it's basic economics. The hope is that we can reduce our dependence on them before they fall off a cliff.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

What the fuck? This guy barely knows how to run a computer let alone secure them.

 

[Dacvak]

I have no idea why the west won't wake up. China is a threat. CCP would have us all sterilised and die out if they could get away with. Then repopulate the planet with han Chinese; then rewrite human history.

Oh don’t worry, we’re banning TikTok. That’ll fix everything.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Cmon, US Treasury. You need to install this on every PC!

 

[Davesky]

It's okay, they just wanted to find out more info about those aliens showing up. Nothing to worry about.

/cognitiveoverload

 

[sono]

BeyondTrust

Um

 

[Doom85]

Bro did a shift at McDonalds a few months ago (why? Fuck if I know what goes through this guy’s head) and he legit thought people who worked at McDonald’s take the fries out of the fryer with their HANDS.

Jon Stewart (of The Daily Show) got some good comedy material out of that insane moment. “Ah yes, McDonalds employees with their sweet, sweet high salaries can totally afford to be constantly putting their hands into extremely hot oil. ‘One order of fries? Coming right upAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! GAAAAADAMNAAAAAAAA! Do you need any ketchup with that?!’”

 

[Pegasus Actual]

Bro did a shift at McDonalds a few months ago (why? Fuck if I know what goes through this guy’s head) and he legit thought people who worked at McDonald’s take the fries out of the fryer with their HANDS.

Jon Stewart (of The Daily Show) got some good comedy material out of that insane moment. “Ah yes, McDonalds employees with their sweet, sweet high salaries can totally afford to be constantly putting their hands into extremely hot oil. ‘One order of fries? Coming right upAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! GAAAAADAMNAAAAAAAA! Do you need any ketchup with that?!’”

 

[Doom85]

There was footage.

 

[ReBurn]

Do I have to change my passwords again?

 

[Crystal Winters]

News =/= Politics

You can make most news about politics if you want to, but this isn't a political issue. It's a national security issue, and this can absolutely be discussed as long as it remains on topic. It's similar to how we had a thread for Russia and Ukraine war, Hamas and Israel, et cetera.

We did? Sorry I missed it. Even more so since those issues are still on going. I'd rather hear from real people about it like you, rather than talking heads on *insert news station here. Especially since people here do seem more nuanced for the most part.

 

[ExtendEmbraceExtinguish]

Xi has isolated himself almost completely, so it seems like no one really knows what's going on in his head at this point. However, here are some things to consider:

• Despite all the fear mongering about China's military expansion, their Navy is pathetic and incompetent compared to the US Navy. Most of their ships can't sail very far from shore. They can make some trouble in their own back yard, but even their neighbors haven't been intimated by their antics.
• China imports the vast majority of it's food, food supply inputs, and energy. If they start any major shit with the US, our Navy can stick a few ships out there to block their imports, and they're done. They would suffer a major famine in 6 months. And with Russia in the state they're in, they can't help.
• Their Army is just as corrupt, if not more so, than the Russian army. We've seen how poorly the Russians performed in Ukraine. China would likely be even worse. Meanwhile the US is fresh off 20 years of war in the middle east with all the lessons learned there. If we actually got into a shooting war with them, it would be over in a matter of days.
• China is dying out. The one child policy has put them in a state of demographic collapse. They have more old people than young, and so few women making babies their population is likely to drop by half within a few decades. As a result, they aren't consuming products anymore, because it's young people who do the bulk of the consuming. There is no economic model for a society that has a bunch of old people and few young people - the math is just upside down. This is a recipe for disaster when you have an autocrat running the place. There's nothing he can do to keep the system from failing, but he also can't allow himself to be blamed for the failure.

Realistically, hackers hack. This is normal. If you follow this stuff, state actors from all sides are constantly hacking each other. The real question is what actual damage was done, if any? It doesn't sound like that information is available yet.

This points to a theory that the future of immigrants becoming a valuable commodity between west & east. To prop consumption.

 

[FunkMiller]

You can make most news about politics if you want to, but this isn't a political issue. It's a national security issue, and this can absolutely be discussed as long as it remains on topic. It's similar to how we had a thread for Russia and Ukraine war, Hamas and Israel, et cetera.

Musk's heavy involvement in the new administration absolutely makes it a political issue. You simply can't have a conversation about China's relationship with the west now without bringing that dimension into it. You don't want China to represent a national security threat to America? Ban Musk from any involvement. He's far too compromised by his business dealings.

Also, mods had to ban the Ukraine thread because of the internal US politics involved.

 

[Drew1440]

Might be time to dump any Huawei/Lenovo or HiSense devices.

 

[Meicyn]

Oh don’t worry, we’re banning TikTok. That’ll fix everything.

Not anymore, apparently.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

We did? Sorry I missed it. Even more so since those issues are still on going. I'd rather hear from real people about it like you, rather than talking heads on *insert news station here. Especially since people here do seem more nuanced for the most part.

Trust me, your idealized dream of what such threads might be is far far superior to what they were in reality!

 

[IFireflyl]

Musk's heavy involvement in the new administration absolutely makes it a political issue. You simply can't have a conversation about China's relationship with the west now without bringing that dimension into it. You don't want China to represent a national security threat to America? Ban Musk from any involvement. He's far too compromised by his business dealings.

You're the first person in this thread to mention Elon Musk, so you can absolutely have a conversation about what happened and what the ramifications are without making it about Conservatives/Republicans versus Liberals/Democrats.

We did? Sorry I missed it. Even more so since those issues are still on going. I'd rather hear from real people about it like you, rather than talking heads on *insert news station here. Especially since people here do seem more nuanced for the most part.

Apparently it finally had to be locked. But just do a search for "Ukraine War" and you will see that topics have been made that are still not locked that have to do with the subject. Again, the rule of thumb (as I understand it) is to not make topics about left vs right or something similar. We don't want to attack people's beliefs, but that doesn't mean we can't have any discussion about impactful news.

EviLore , if you or another mod want to chime in and confirm how "no politics" works in regards to news, I would appreciate it. If my understanding is wrong then I would like to know that before I mislead others into being warned/banned. Also, it may be worth clarifying this in the Terms of Service link that can be found in the site's footer.

 

[FunkMiller]

You're the first person in this thread to mention Elon Musk, so you can absolutely have a conversation about what happened and what the ramifications are without making it about Conservatives/Republicans versus Liberals/Democrats.

You can't discuss the ramifications of a Chinese cyber attack without discussing what the response would/will be. That's what one of the main ramifications of the attack is. You want to discuss how the west responds to Chinese interference of this kind? How are you supposed to do that without acknowledging the people in positions of power who will do it? Musk's politics don't actually matter much. But his compromised position when it comes to China does.

These kinds of subjects are inherently political - if you actually want to discuss them with any depth, seriousness or context. So, given that the site bans politics (rightly) it's probably better these kinds of topics don't get brought up.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

 

[ResilientBanana]

Doesn’t seem like a hack as much as someone handed out the password or key. This makes me feel better.

They need to do what most other companies do and do session keys that expire within an allotted amount of tjme

 

[nush]

Bro did a shift at McDonalds a few months ago (why? Fuck if I know what goes through this guy’s head) and he legit thought people who worked at McDonald’s take the fries out of the fryer with their HANDS.

Jon Stewart (of The Daily Show) got some good comedy material out of that insane moment. “Ah yes, McDonalds employees with their sweet, sweet high salaries can totally afford to be constantly putting their hands into extremely hot oil. ‘One order of fries? Coming right upAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! GAAAAADAMNAAAAAAAA! Do you need any ketchup with that?!’”

Do you want some fries to go with that salt?

 

[Doom85]

Do you want some fries to go with that salt?

What salt? Daily Show is about to have some great material for the next few years!

 

[RavageX]

I dont really care, only way I would is if they deposit some funds into my account.

However, if it is traceable then nevermind.

 

[Mistake]

#1 rule with cyber security. If there's stuff you really care about, don't put it on the internet

Government: So.....put it on the internet right?

 

[Blade2.0]

China is currently in decline, so we're ramping up production elsewhere. Obama, Trump and Biden all took steps in that direction, so it's not really a political issue - it's basic economics. The hope is that we can reduce our dependence on them before they fall off a cliff.

I think this is very wishful thinking. If anything they caught up to us years ago.

 

[Solarstrike]

 

[Dr.Morris79]

 

[DeafTourette]

Xi has isolated himself almost completely, so it seems like no one really knows what's going on in his head at this point. However, here are some things to consider:

• Despite all the fear mongering about China's military expansion, their Navy is pathetic and incompetent compared to the US Navy. Most of their ships can't sail very far from shore. They can make some trouble in their own back yard, but even their neighbors haven't been intimated by their antics.
• China imports the vast majority of it's food, food supply inputs, and energy. If they start any major shit with the US, our Navy can stick a few ships out there to block their imports, and they're done. They would suffer a major famine in 6 months. And with Russia in the state they're in, they can't help.
• Their Army is just as corrupt, if not more so, than the Russian army. We've seen how poorly the Russians performed in Ukraine. China would likely be even worse. Meanwhile the US is fresh off 20 years of war in the middle east with all the lessons learned there. If we actually got into a shooting war with them, it would be over in a matter of days.
• China is dying out. The one child policy has put them in a state of demographic collapse. They have more old people than young, and so few women making babies their population is likely to drop by half within a few decades. As a result, they aren't consuming products anymore, because it's young people who do the bulk of the consuming. There is no economic model for a society that has a bunch of old people and few young people - the math is just upside down. This is a recipe for disaster when you have an autocrat running the place. There's nothing he can do to keep the system from failing, but he also can't allow himself to be blamed for the failure.

Realistically, hackers hack. This is normal. If you follow this stuff, state actors from all sides are constantly hacking each other. The real question is what actual damage was done, if any? It doesn't sound like that information is available yet.

#boom! You are 100% correct! I've been trying to tell people this elsewhere for a long time!

 

[Hookshot]

China is fucked when it's newly formed middle class turns on them as the good times end. Until then I don't see how you can stop them stealing everything as they make it.

 

[rm082e]

I think this is very wishful thinking. If anything they caught up to us years ago.

In what way do you mean exactly?

I was speaking specifically about their demographic collapse. Their population is aging at a rate that is faster than any in human history. Their strength for many decades has been a massive workforce with a bottomless supply of interest free capitol from their government. They've been able to throw massive amounts of people and free money at manufacturing and construction which led them to becoming the hub of cheap production. But that entire system depends on having that massive workforce of young workers who can churn out products. They no longer have that.

It's like having a car with an engine that has less and less horsepower every month and also gets worse gas mileage. Eventually the engine consumes so much gas, and gets weak enough that it doesn't make sense to drive the car anymore.

They don't have a healthy economy that can support a move to automation like Japan. Automation is a very expensive process, and it takes a lot of highly skilled workers to build out. That's just not in the cards for China. They also can't borrow more money from anyone else because they don't have any collateral to justify it. They can keep printing Yuan, but they're already so overextended their system is showing signs of serious stress.

 

[Lunarorbit]

What more should the west do to "wake up" exactly?

As much as I dislike the orange one tariffs should have been on China in the 90s. It's gotten outta control between shitty quality merchandise, the horrible working conditions, and stolen intellectual property.

Question: This topic does not violate site rules about politics, does it? I ask because I wish there were topics like this here. Topics like the Ukraine situation and also the Israel Gaza situation as well. I don't want to go to left leaning sites to get my news discussion from and YouTube comment sections have always been trash. On topic: is this just an escalation on their part? I have been wondering lately if they are setting all this up to eventually go to war against the US and other areas of the world.

It's kinda a mess. Usually a mod will block the thread eventually. The Ukraine thread got blocked a couple months ago

 

[DKPOWPOW]

Oh God! Now it’s time to print more money! Don’t worry, that money is only for the rich and you poor saps will pay it back/ America.

Fake news. We be spying and hacking countries for over 2 decades. Remember Snowden? And now it’s supposed to be a big deal, if it happens to us. The news over the past month or 2 has really been trying hard for clicks, dat ad money must be drying up.

 

[Blade2.0]

In what way do you mean exactly?

I was speaking specifically about their demographic collapse. Their population is aging at a rate that is faster than any in human history. Their strength for many decades has been a massive workforce with a bottomless supply of interest free capitol from their government. They've been able to throw massive amounts of people and free money at manufacturing and construction which led them to becoming the hub of cheap production. But that entire system depends on having that massive workforce of young workers who can churn out products. They no longer have that.

It's like having a car with an engine that has less and less horsepower every month and also gets worse gas mileage. Eventually the engine consumes so much gas, and gets weak enough that it doesn't make sense to drive the car anymore.

They don't have a healthy economy that can support a move to automation like Japan. Automation is a very expensive process, and it takes a lot of highly skilled workers to build out. That's just not in the cards for China. They also can't borrow more money from anyone else because they don't have any collateral to justify it. They can keep printing Yuan, but they're already so overextended their system is showing signs of serious stress.

They have much better infrastructure than us nowadays. Their bullet train mileage is testament to that and their commitment to renewables and nuclear power plants means they'll likely not have to rely on oil from outside countries in the long run. They also offer the best salaries in the region. They'll be able to keep churning and burning for a while yet. I think USA is closer to losing its superpower status before China.

 

[Hypereides]

Cmon, US Treasury. You need to install this on every PC!

FYI; All and any AVs provide a false sense of security. Its better to have one than nothing though.

 

[rm082e]

I think USA is closer to losing its superpower status before China.

Okay, now you're really surprising me. What about the US makes you say this?