An elite group of Chinese hackers infiltrated the National Guard over nine months, according to a report from NBC News.
The Department of Homeland Security initially acknowledged the hack, known by its nickname "Salt Typhoon," in a June memo. It says the hacking group “extensively compromised a U.S. state’s Army National Guard network” but does not specify which state.
The attack occurred between March and December of last year, according to the memo.
It "likely provided Beijing with data that could facilitate the hacking of other states’ Army National Guard units, and possibly many of their state-level cybersecurity partners," the report continued.
This is not the first time that Salt Typhoon has hacked a major U.S. organization, NBC News reported. Last year, the group hacked eight large telecom companies to spy on Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign as well as the office of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) when he was Majority Leader.
While the report doesn't mention Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth by name, it speaks to the cybersecurity issues that have plagued his agency since he took over earlier this year.
For example, Hegseth was one of the cabinet members implicated in the Signalgate scandal. That scandal involved cabinet officials discussing a bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen using a commercial encrypted messaging app. Government policy prohibits the use of commercial messaging apps for official business because of their propensity to be hacked.
Two of Hegseth's closest advisors are also under investigation for their roles in helping Hegseth skirt government cybersecurity protocols.