US adds 100 Chinese, Russian firms to military list

Bloomberg

The US Commerce Department added more than 100 Chinese and Russian companies to a new list of firms it says have links to their nations’ militaries, a move that will sharply curtail certain types of exports.
The list of 58 Chinese and 45 Russia companies means anyone seeking to sell items that could eventually be used for military purposes to those firms will need a license, the Commerce Department said in a statement.
Among the biggest names were seven subsidiaries of Aviation Industry Corp. of China Ltd. and Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, which has been implicated in a recent cyber-attack on US federal agencies and companies.
“The Department recognises the importance of leveraging its partnerships with US and global companies to combat efforts by China and Russia to divert US technology for their destabilising military programs,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in the statement.
The move comes amid a continuing erosion of US-China ties during the US presidential transition, as President Donald Trump ratchets up actions targeting Beijing over issues from its tightening control over Hong Kong and treatment of Muslim minorities to exports of 5G technology.
That push has included putting greater scrutiny on companies that the US says are owned or controlled by China’s military. Earlier this year, the administration listed 31 Chinese companies for being tied to the People’s Liberation Army. Those companies included Huawei Technologies Co. and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., as well as a number of state-run enterprises.

Hackers Targeted Senior US Treasury Officials in Data Breach
Systems at the US Treasury Department used by senior officials were accessed by hackers in a widespread cyberattack on federal agencies, according to Senator Ron Wyden.
“According to Treasury staff, the agency suffered a serious breach, beginning in July, the full depth of which isn’t known,” Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement. “Treasury still does not know all of the actions taken by hackers, or precisely what information was stolen.”
Wyden, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, had requested to meet with Treasury and IRS officials after the discovery of the data breach affecting multiple agency systems. A Treasury Department spokesperson didn’t immediately reply to a request for
comment outside of office hours.
Microsoft Corp. told the Treasury that dozens of email accounts were compromised, the statement said. The hackers breached systems in the Treasury’s Departmental Offices unit, which contains the highest-ranking officials. The IRS does not appear to be affected by the attack.
US government agencies were attacked as part of a global campaign orchestrated by hackers believed to be tied to the Russian government, according to US officials. The hackers were reported to have installed a malicious vulnerability in software from Texas-based SolarWinds Corp., whose customers include top government agencies and Fortune 500 companies.