Nicholas Burns, the U.S. Ambassador to China, fell victim to a brazen cyberattack orchestrated by Beijing-linked hackers.
According to an exclusive report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Thursday, this plot potentially compromised hundreds of thousands of sensitive U.S. government emails.
But the drama doesn't end there.
The WSJ report also revealed that Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia, was also ensnared in this wider spying operation that was recently brought to light by Microsoft.
With such high-profile targets falling prey to this cyber assault, the stakes couldn't be higher.
The U.S. State Department, ever watchful of its diplomatic secrets, is tight-lipped about the details of this breach.
During a congressional hearing on U.S.-China policy, Kritenbrink, deeply embroiled in this espionage saga, was asked if he could rule out that his or his staff's emails were caught in the crosshairs of the Microsoft hack.
"I can't comment on an investigation that's underway being conducted by the FBI, but no, I will not rule it out," he commented.
Burns and Kritenbrink now join the ranks of espionage victims, standing alongside U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, whose name was also publicly disclosed in this shocking campaign of cyber intrusions.
The fallout has been so immense that even Washington's top diplomat felt compelled to issue a stern warning to his Chinese counterpart.
In response, the Chinese Embassy in Washington denied any involvement in cyberattacks or theft.
According to Liu Pengyu, the embassy's spokesperson, China's position on such matters is "consistent and clear."
The spotlight is not only on Beijing but also on tech giant Microsoft, whose security practices are under intense scrutiny.
The recent revelation that Chinese hackers exploited a flaw in Microsoft's code, pilfering emails from U.S. government agencies and other clients, has raised eyebrows worldwide.
Amid the chaos, Microsoft has yet to respond to the WSJ report.
As pressure mounts, calls are growing louder for Microsoft to provide its top-level digital auditing, known as logging, to all customers free of charge.
The U.S. government detected the anomalous activity early on and swiftly fortified its systems to fend off any further breaches.