The US Department of Homeland Security is currently investigating a Russian state-sponsored espionage campaign that allowed the Russian intelligence force to monitor sensitive government information. Businesses have been scrambling to mitigate the risks posed by the sweeping hacks. Email communication at the DHS was under surveillance by Russia for an unknown period of time as part of the series of breaches.
The attacks also affected both the US Department of Treasury and Commerce. Meanwhile, it has just come to light that some parts of the Defense Department were breached. There are also unverified claims that the State Department and National Institutes of Health were also hacked, although this remains uncertain. The Pentagon refuses to speak on specific mitigation measures or specify what systems were impacted in the espionage campaign, however, it is known that technology company SolarWinds accidentally allowed 18,000 customers to download a compromised software update. This software update contained a critical vulnerability and went unnoticed for nine months until recently when it was used by Russia to hack several US agencies.
Read More: U.S. Homeland Security, thousands of businesses scramble after suspected Russian hack
