An alarming announcement was made on Tuesday by Nebraska Republican Representative Don Bacon. The FBI revealed to him that his email had been breached by malicious operatives from the Chinese Communist Party.
I thank the FBI for notifying me that the CCP hacked into my personal and campaign emails from May 15th to June 16th of this year. The CCP hackers utilized a vulnerability in the Microsoft software, and this was not due to “user error.” (1/2)
— Rep. Don Bacon 🇺🇸 (@RepDonBacon) August 14, 2023
Likewise, Bacon underscored what other citizens must keep in mind: “I am grateful to the FBI for making me aware that the CCP has hacked into both my personal and campaign emails from May 15th to June 16th this year.” Since there had been no user errors committed, the malicious attack came from a vulnerability in Microsoft software. He also believed that other people were affected by this cyber crime.
The Chinese government is regarded to be the United States’ enemy, and Bacon said that “they have been particularly active in performing cyber espionage.” With this, Bacon is determined to ensure that Taiwan receives every penny of the $19 billion in weapon backlogs they have requested, plus more. Bacon is part of the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives, and he advocated for the sale of more US military equipment to Taiwan. Bacon believes that these are required to prevent China from ever taking any undesirable action.
In July, reports indicated that federal agencies’ communication systems had been hacked, and authorities have confirmed the breach in June. This prompted the Department of Commerce to act quickly following a notification from Microsoft concerning a security breach in their Office 365 system. A Commerce Department spokesperson he did not comment on the matter while they monitored the system for any further possible activity.
US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burn and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink were among the officials whose communication security had been compromised. In March, the White House issued an outline for better cybersecurity, which highlighted the need to address China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran’s growing cybersecurity capabilities.
The framework mentioned China, stating: “It represents the most extensive, most active, and most persistent threat to government and private sector networks and is the only country with both the intention and increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to reorder the international order.”
Thus, it is incumbent upon all of us to take extra care in protecting our cybersecurity to prevent any incidents similar to this from happening.
