Elon Musk mocks Yellen for getting hacked, says email likely mentioned Bitcoin

Elon Musk has turned the U.S. Treasury Department’s cybersecurity disaster into his latest roast material. Following news that Chinese state-backed hackers breached Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s computer, Elon went to X (formerly Twitter) to take jabs at her.

“A 12-year-old script kiddie could hack into Yellen’s computer. I doubt she knows how to reboot her WiFi router,” he wrote. He then threw Bitcoin out there too, saying, “Maybe she clicked on the ‘send me 1 BTC, I send you 2 BTC’ email.”

Treasury officials hacked, data compromised

The breach wasn’t just limited to Yellen’s device. Hackers accessed fewer than 50 unclassified files on her machine and also infiltrated the computers of her top deputies—Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Acting Under Secretary Brad Smith.

According to a report by Bloomberg, this attack is part of a larger cyber espionage campaign by Chinese operatives targeting high-level U.S. government officials.

Over 400 laptops and desktops were hacked, exposing employee usernames, passwords, and more than 3,000 unclassified files.

Some of the data reportedly included “law enforcement sensitive” information and materials related to investigations by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a powerful body that evaluates the national security risks of foreign investments.

The hackers operated after regular business hours to evade detection, according to a Treasury report reviewed by Bloomberg. BeyondTrust, a software contractor, was the first entry point for the breach. On December 8, the contractor informed the Treasury that its systems had been exploited.

The department immediately contacted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the FBI, and other intelligence agencies to investigate. Interestingly, this happened right after the Senate Finance Committee’s confirmation hearing for Scott Bessent, President Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary.

Yellen’s crypto history makes Elon’s joke funnier

Elon’s sarcastic reference to Bitcoin taps into Yellen’s complicated history with crypto. Since taking office in 2021, she has been a consistent critic.

During her own Senate confirmation hearing, she actually took around 10 minutes to warn the Senators about cryptocurrencies being used for illegal activities, which set the stage for stricter regulations.

Yellen’s approach to crypto became even clearer when the Treasury proposed tighter compliance requirements for exchanges to curb illicit activities. While she has praised the potential of blockchain, she’s never particularly been a fan.

In 2017, when she was still the chair of the Federal Reserve, Christian Langalis, a 22-year-old intern at the Cato Institute, stood behind her with a “Buy Bitcoin” sign, an event that quickly became infamous. It also might be one of the reasons Yellen hates Bitcoin so much.