US government agencies hit in global cyberattack
Several U.S. federal government agencies have been hit in a global cyberattack by Russian cybercriminals that exploits a vulnerability in widely used software, according to a top U.S. cybersecurity agency.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency 맥스카지노is providing support to several federal agencies that have experienced intrusions affecting their MOVEit applications,맥스카지노 Eric Goldstein, the agency맥스카지노s executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said in a statement on Thursday to CNN, referring to the software impacted. 맥스카지노We are working urgently to understand impacts and ensure timely remediation.맥스카지노
Aside from U.S. government agencies, 맥스카지노several hundred맥스카지노 companies and organizations in the U.S. could be affected by the hacking spree, a senior CISA official told reporters later Thursday, citing estimates from private experts.
Clop, the ransomware gang allegedly responsible, is known to demand multimillion-dollar ransoms. But no ransom demands have been made of federal agencies, the senior official told reporters in a background briefing.
CISA맥스카지노s response comes as Progress Software, the U.S. firm that makes the software exploited by the hackers, said it had discovered a second vulnerability in the code that the company was working to fix.
The Department of Energy is among multiple federal agencies breached in the ongoing global hacking campaign, a department spokesperson confirmed to CNN.
The hacks have not had any 맥스카지노significant impacts맥스카지노 on federal civilian agencies, CISA Director Jen Easterly told reporters, adding that the hackers have been 맥스카지노largely opportunistic맥스카지노 in using the software flaw to break into networks.
The news adds to a growing tally of victims of a sprawling hacking campaign that began two weeks ago and has hit major U.S. universities and state governments. The hacking spree mounts pressure on federal officials who have pledged to put a dent in the scourge of ransomware attacks that have hobbled schools, hospitals and local governments across the U.S.
Since late last month, the hackers have been exploiting a flaw in widely used software known as MOVEit that companies and agencies use to transfer data. Progress Software, the US firm that makes the software, told CNN Thursday that a new vulnerability in the software had been discovered 맥스카지노that could be exploited by a bad actor.맥스카지노
맥스카지노We have communicated with customers on the steps they need to take to further secure their environments and we have also taken MOVEit Cloud offline as we urgently work to patch the issue,맥스카지노 the company said in a statement.
Agencies were much quicker Thursday to deny they맥스카지노d been affected by the hacking than to confirm they were. The Transportation Security Administration and the State Department said they were not victims of the hack.
The Department of Energy 맥스카지노took immediate steps맥스카지노 to mitigate the impact of the hack after learning that records from two department 맥스카지노entities맥스카지노 had been compromised, the department spokesperson said.
맥스카지노The Department has notified Congress and is working with law enforcement, CISA, and the affected entities to investigate the incident and mitigate impacts from the breach,맥스카지노 the spokesperson said in a statement.
One of the Department of Energy victims is Oak Ridge Associated Universities, a not-for-profit research center, a department spokesperson told CNN. The other victim is a contractor affiliated with the department맥스카지노s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, which disposes waste associated with atomic energy, the spokesperson said.
Federal News Network first reported on the Department of Energy victims.
and the university맥스카지노s renowned health system said in a statement this week that 맥스카지노sensitive personal and financial information,맥스카지노 including health billing records may have been stolen in the hack.
Video below: ID theft expert sheds light on data breaches
Meanwhile, Georgia맥스카지노s state-wide university system 맥스카지노 which spans the 40,000-student University of Georgia along with over a dozen other state colleges and universities 맥스카지노 confirmed it was investigating the 맥스카지노scope and severity맥스카지노 of the hack.
CLOP last week claimed credit for some of the hacks, which have also affected employees of the BBC, British Airways, oil giant Shell, and state governments in Minnesota and Illinois, among others.
The Russian hackers were the first to exploit the MOVEit vulnerability, but experts say other groups may now have access to software code needed to conduct attacks.
The ransomware group had given victims until Wednesday to contact them about paying a ransom, after which they began listing more alleged victims from the hack on their extortion site on the dark web. As of Thursday morning, the dark website did not list any U.S. federal agencies. Instead, the hackers wrote in all caps, 맥스카지노If you are a government, city or police service do not worry, we erased all your data. You do not need to contact us. We have no interest to expose such information.맥스카지노
The CLOP ransomware group is one of numerous gangs in Eastern Europe and Russia that are almost exclusively focused on wringing their victims for as much money as possible.
맥스카지노The activity we맥스카지노re seeing at the moment, adding company names to their leak site, is a tactic to scare victims, both listed and unlisted, into paying,맥스카지노 Rafe Pilling, director of threat research at Dell-owned Secureworks, told CNN.