WASHINGTON DC: (Ax-ios): Russian cyber operators are almost certainly still rummaging through U.S. networks, potentially lifting data or setting traps for future havoc even as officials scramble to assess the damage Moscow’s hack has already dealt.
The hack, powered by malicious code inserted into an update of SolarWinds network management software, could be among the most significant in the country’s history, perhaps on par with China’s hack of the Office of Personnel Management or Russia’s 2014 hack of the State Department.
Driving the news: The FBI, NSA, CISA and office of the DNI in a joint statement Tuesday confirmed what has been widely accepted in the cybersecurity world: The hack was likely the work of Russia. (Specifically, Russia’s SVR intelligence agency is thought to be behind it, though the statement stopped short of such specific attribution.)
The agencies also said that, although the update went out to some 18,000 SolarWinds customers, far fewer public or private entities were actually compromised. So far, fewer than 10 government bodies have been identified as having been breached, the agencies said.
Yes, but: Even if the cyber operation narrowly focused on just a handful of targets, its impact could far exceed its footprint.
Already, experts say Russia may have used the exploit to breach critical U.S. infrastructure like power plants.
Microsoft, meanwhile, said hackers viewed some of the company’s source code.
And the federal agencies that are known to have been affected are among those responsible for some of the nation’s most vital and sensitive work, including the State, Treasury, Energy, Commerce and Defense departments.
The intrigue: Nation-state groups — called “Advanced Persistent Threats” in cybersecurity jargon — aim to achieve persistent and long-standing access to desired targets. Once they burrow into a network, they almost always surreptitiously develop contingencies for how to stay there, even if their initial point of entry is discovered. That prospect of persistent access is complicated further by the fact that we still don’t know exactly what the Russian cyber spies were looking for. Broadly speaking, there are three possibilities:
F.P. Report KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to bring in more buses for the…
F.P. Report PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gundapur has threatened to take over…
Humayun Khan PESHAWAR: Chief Justice Peshawar High Court (PHC) Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim ordered Chief Secretary,…
F.P. Report KARACHI : Pakistan International Airlines flight from Islamabad to Toronto has been diverted…
F.P. Report ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Aamer Farooq of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday…
F.P. Report RAWALPINDI: General Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), Chief of Army Staff (COAS), received…
This website uses cookies.