Major U.S. Government Agencies Hacked in Alleged Cyberattack by Russia

Major federal government agencies were hacked over the weekend by a foreign entity. Last week, the cybersecurity company FireEye reported a breach in their network. Tools designed to find weaknesses in a customer’s systems were stolen. FireEye’s CEO believes the hackers’ primary goal was to take information from their government clients but it’s not clear how much they were able to gain access to. Then yesterday, the U.S. Treasury Department and an unidentified bureau with the Commerce Department confirmed breaches, as well. The FBI and a cybersecurity agency within the Department of Homeland Security are now investigating what they believe was a Russian intelligence campaign maneuver with aims to access internal government emails across multiple U.S. agencies and companies. The Russian Embassy located in Washington has responded to reports of the breach and their potential involvement, referring to it as “groundless attempts by the American media to accuse Russia of hacking attacks on U.S. government bodies.”