Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) announced Monday that he was targeted by Chinese hackers believed to be affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
In a post shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Bacon wrote, “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.”
This incident wasn’t just an isolated breach; as Bacon pointed out, the intruders “utilized a vulnerability in the Microsoft software” and clarified that the compromise was not due to “user error.”
Furthermore, it was revealed that the hacking operation was more widespread, with the congressman stating, “Thus, there were other victims in this cyber operation.”
Bacon, with his tenure spanning six years in Congress, took a moment to remind the public of the geopolitical implications of such incidents. He asserted, “The Communist government in China are not our friends and are very active in conducting cyber espionage.”
Demonstrating resilience and commitment to the defense of Western allies, Bacon also proclaimed, “I’ll work overtime to ensure Taiwan gets every $ of the $19B in weapons backlog they’ve ordered, and more.”
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Reports have emerged of similar cybersecurity breaches targeting State Department employees. U.S. Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, also was a victim of cyber espionage last month.
According to The Hill, the series of recent breaches has prompted Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee to launch an investigation. In letters addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, the Oversight Republicans expressed their concerns, emphasizing their intent “to understand the extent and ramifications of the breach by Chinese hackers.”
This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.
