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Data on US sanctions policy and intelligence operations was stolen in the SolarWinds hack

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Last Updated on 22/11/2021 by Sanskriti

The alleged Russian hackers who broke into US federal agencies using SolarWinds and Microsoft software emerged with material on counter-intelligence investigations, sanctions policy, and the country’s response to COVID-19. After their discovery late last year, the cyberattacks were widely publicized, and American authorities blamed Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence arm, which denies any involvement. However, little information regarding the spies’ goals and accomplishments has been released.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into certain publicly listed firms’ refusal to explain their risk.

Officials were taken aback by the campaign’s secrecy and meticulous planning. SolarWinds, a company that provides widely used software for network management, was hacked into by the hackers.

The gang also took use of flaws in Microsoft’s procedures for identifying users in Office 365, penetrating certain targets that did not use SolarWinds but did use Microsoft products.

The hackers entered into unclassified Justice Department networks and read communications from the departments of treasury, commerce, and homeland security, according to earlier reports. A total of nine government entities were hacked. The hackers allegedly took source code from Microsoft and other major companies, as well as digital certificates that convince computers that software is authorized to execute on them.

The disclosure of counter-intelligence things being pursued against Russia, according to one of the persons concerned, was the worst of the losses.

President Joe Biden, according to a White House official, has issued directives aimed at enhancing federal agency security, including greater multifactor authentication and increased surveillance of worker devices.

Microsoft claimed the Russian spies were eventually seeking government data on sanctions and other Russia-related policies, as well as US tactics for capturing Russian hackers, in an annual threat-review report issued on Thursday.

“You can infer the operational aims from that.” the company has concluded from the types of accounts and customers which were attacked, said the general manager of Microsoft’s Digital Security Unit, Cristin Goodwin.

Others involved with the government’s inquiry went even farther, claiming to have seen the phrases the Russians used in their searches of US digital material, including “sanctions.”

Chris Krebs, the former chief of the US Cyber-Defense Agency (CISA) and now a consultant for SolarWinds and other firms said the attackers’ aims were reasonable when combined. Kerbs said, “If I’m a threat actor in an environment, I’ve got a clear set of objectives. First, I want to get valuable intelligence on government decision-making. Sanctions policy makes a ton of sense,” Krebs said.“I want to know what they know about me so I can improve my tradecraft and avoid detection,” he added. The second step is to understand how the target reacts to attacks, or “counter-incident reaction.”

Sanskriti
Sanskriti
Sanskriti loves technology in general and ensures to keep TheDigitalHacker audience aware of the latest trends, updates, and data breaches.
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