![]() Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked about the intrusion on Monday and acknowledged it was consistent Russian efforts to breach servers belonging to American government agencies and businesses, but would not give any additional details. President Donald Trump has yet to acknowledge the hack despite the rapidly growing list of agencies in his administration that were affected, though the National Security Council and White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany have commented on the breach. Why the US government hack is literally keeping security experts awake at night (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) Charles Dharapak/AP/FILE “There is a feeling of widespread dread in the national security community,” the former official said.įILE - This Mafile photo shows the Pentagon in Washington. In the short term, the effort to catalog which agencies were hit and what information may have been accessed or stolen has shaken the nation’s intelligence agencies, according to one former Trump administration official, who added that the fallout has led to more than a little finger pointing. US officials and cybersecurity experts are warning that the incident should serve as a wake-up call for both the federal government, including the incoming Biden administration, and private sector companies, as foreign actors will undoubtedly conduct similar attacks and improve their tactics in the future. On Monday, his staff was briefed by officials on the massive intrusion, an official from the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said.īiden himself would also presumably have been given details in his daily classified briefing. President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team has been meeting with the various agencies as it prepares to take over. News of the intrusions comes at a highly sensitive time, in the middle of a presidential transition. But even after deactivating the malware, there is a chance that affected systems may remain accessible to the attackers, a FireEye spokesperson said.Īt the same time, US officials are already facing mounting pressure to retaliate against Russia, even as they scramble to address the vulnerabilities that were exploited and to formally identify the perpetrator.Įven as officials continue to grapple with the immediate fallout from the attack, its seriousness is already coming into view, as are the glaring shortcomings of American cyber defenses that were exposed. While relevant agencies continue to investigate the incident, the cybersecurity firm FireEye disclosed Wednesday that the malicious software contains a “killswitch” that can be used to shut it down. ![]() The official declined to provide additional details about what was discussed. The Biden transition team was also briefed on the attack this week, an official from the Department of Homeland Security’s cyber arm told CNN. House and Senate Intelligence Committee aides received a phone briefing on the hack from administration officials on Wednesday, but the full extent of the breach remains unclear, according to sources familiar with the briefing. ![]() Days after several US agencies confirmed their networks were compromised in a massive data breach, federal officials are still struggling to understand the scope of the damage – highlighting the sophistication and breadth of an ongoing hacking campaign that has been tied to Russia. ![]()
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