Hack of U.S. agencies exposed supply chain weaknesses
News Highlights: Hack of U.S. agencies exposed supply chain weaknesses.
By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) – The elite Russian hackers who gained access to federal agencies’ computer systems last year did not have to painstakingly hack into each department’s networks one by one to wreak havoc.
Instead, they entered by sneaking malicious code into a software update that was pushed to thousands of government agencies and private companies.
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That hackers were able to exploit supply chain vulnerabilities to gather mass intelligence was not particularly surprising. For years, US officials and cybersecurity experts have been ringing the alarm about a problem that has wreaked havoc, including billions of dollars in financial losses, while also defying simple government and private sector solutions.
The elite Russian hackers who gained access to computer systems of federal agencies last year didn’t bother trying to break one-by-one into the networks of each department.
Washington
The elite Russian hackers who gained access to computer systems of federal agencies last year didn’t need to painstakingly break one-by-one into the networks of each department in order to cause havoc.
Instead, they got inside by sneaking malicious code into a software update pushed out to thousands of government agencies and private companies.
That hackers were able to exploit vulnerabilities in the supply chain to launch a massive intelligence-gathering operation wasn’t especially surprising.
United States officials and cybersecurity experts have sounded the alarm for years about a problem that has caused havoc, including billions of dollars in financial losses, while also defying easy solutions from the government and private sector.
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Jan 25, 2021 9:23 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) The elite Russian hackers who gained access to computer systems of federal agencies last year didn’t bother trying to break one by one into the networks of each department.
Instead, they got inside by sneaking malicious code into a software update pushed out to thousands of government agencies and private companies.
It wasn’t surprising that hackers were able to exploit vulnerabilities in what’s known as the supply chain to launch a massive intelligence gathering operation. U.S. officials and cybersecurity experts have sounded the alarm for years about a problem that has caused havoc, including billions of dollars in financial losses, but has defied easy solutions from the government and private sector.