The same Russian government hackers responsible for security breaches on FireEye endangers the Treasury and Commerce department and other US government agencies, The Washington Post reported. According to the Post, the group is known as APT29, or Cozy Bear, was responsible for the US State Department and White House hacks during the Obama administration, and is the group officials believe targeted COVID-19 vaccine research over the summer.
Reuters reports that in addition to hacking the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), hackers may have violated other US government entities.
Government officials found the Russian hackers gruesome enough that the National Security Council held an emergency meeting at the White House on Saturday.
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An NSC spokesman told Reuters the government was “aware” of the report, adding “we are taking all necessary steps” to remedy the situation. It is not clear what information may have been stolen or which foreign governments were involved. But the “highly sophisticated” hacker was able to break into Microsoft Office NTIA software, tricking authentication controls to monitor staff e-mails for months, according to Reuters.
Several federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, are investigating the breach.
