Dive Brief:
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The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday said it imposed sanctions through its Office of Foreign Assets Control against Shanghai-based Yin Kecheng, in connection with the recent network compromise at the government agency.
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Sichuan-based company Sichuan Juxinhe Network Technology Co., also was hit with sanctions for its direct link to Salt Typhoon, the threat group behind the compromise of multiple U.S. telecommunications firms and internet service providers, according to the Treasury Department.
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The sanctions come in the wake of former President Joe Biden's recent executive order on cybersecurity that granted additional authority for sanctions in response to malicious threat activity against U.S. critical infrastructure.
Dive Insight:
The sanctions were among the last significant steps taken by the Biden administration to address ongoing threats to critical infrastructure in the U.S.
The Treasury Department in December said a state-linked hacker gained access to unclassified data by using a stolen key to override security protections. The attack was linked to threat activity involving a compromised API key at BeyondTrust, where a limited number of its customers were targeted in an attack spree.
“The Treasury Department will continue to use its authorities to hold accountable malicious actors who target the American people, our companies and the United States government, including those who have targeted the Treasury Department specifically,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Adewale O. Odeyemo, said in a statement Friday.
Yin Kecheng has been a cyber actor for more than a decade and is affiliated with the People’s Republic of China Ministry of State Security, according to the Treasury Department.
Earlier this month, OFAC announced sanctions against a Beijing-based firm called Integrity Technology Group, which the agency says is linked to Flax Typhoon, another nation-state threat group that targeted U.S. critical infrastructure by exploiting weaknesses in VPN software and remote desktop protocols.
