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"Top US prosecutors hit by suspected Russian hack"

Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:01 pm
by highdesert
Nearly 30 top US prosecutors had their office's email accounts hacked during a major breach last year, the Justice Department says.

The attack on users of the software SolarWinds - which the US has blamed on Russia - was the worst-ever cyber-espionage attack on the US government.

The department says 27 US attorneys had at least one office computer hacked.

That has raised fears the hackers may have accessed sensitive information, including the names of informants.

"It's potentially very serious," Gil Soffer, a former federal prosecutor, told the BBC.

He said prosecutors' emails contain "very sensitive, very confidential and often very secret information".

If the hackers got hold of secret informants' identities, they could use the information to "blow their cover," he added.

The hack, which gave cyber-criminals potential access to 18,000 government and private computer networks, was made public last December.

Those hit by the breach include 80% of Microsoft email accounts used by employees at the four New York's attorney offices - which handle some of the most prominent prosecutions in the country.

"There are very sensitive investigations going on within those offices," former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said.

They include many high-profile financial investigations, which means any leaked information could be used for blackmail or extortion, he said.

The department says hackers compromised the accounts as early as May 2020 - some seven months before the SolarWinds hack was made public.

The department said all victims had been notified and it is working to mitigate "operational, security and privacy risks" caused by the hack.

It did not reveal what kind of information had been taken.

In April, US President Joe Biden's administration announced sanctions against Russia in response to the SolarWinds breach and other cyber attacks.

Russia has denied any wrongdoing.

But Mr Mariotti warned that if a foreign government got hold of sensitive legal files, it could try to use them to shape public debate or influence elections.

"There are all sorts of reasons why a foreign government might want to have that kind of information," he said.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58042344

They hit 27 out of a total of 93 US Attorneys in the US.

Re: "Top US prosecutors hit by suspected Russian hack"

Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:33 am
by DJD100
I guess they wanted the detail's of TFG's various cases, though when they found out how unprotected they were, and how ridiculously stupid Americans are when it comes to giving up their logins and passwords, they just took a longer look around to be sure Putin didn't have any cases on him LOL (though our lack of network security is anything but funny...)?

Re: "Top US prosecutors hit by suspected Russian hack"

Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:37 am
by lurker
?

Re: "Top US prosecutors hit by suspected Russian hack"

Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:47 am
by TrueTexan
lurker wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:37 am "russian hackers"
do they do anything without putin ordering it?
Yes they do. Because he sets broad goals and they can run to him and say master look at what we have done. Then he pats them on the head and tells them how good they have been.

Re: "Top US prosecutors hit by suspected Russian hack"

Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:48 am
by highdesert
The Justice Department said in a statement that it believes the accounts were compromised from May 7 to Dec. 27, 2020. Such a timeframe is notable because the SolarWinds campaign, which infiltrated dozens of private-sector companies and think tanks as well as at least nine U.S. government agencies, was first discovered and publicized in mid-December.
The Administrative Office of U.S. Courts confirmed in January that it was also breached, giving the SolarWinds hackers another entry point to steal confidential information like trade secrets, espionage targets, whistleblower reports and arrest warrants.

The list of affected offices include several large and high-profile ones like those in Los Angeles, Miami, Washington and the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, where large numbers of staff were hit, handle some of the most prominent prosecutors in the country.

“New York is the financial center of the world and those districts are particularly well known for investigating and prosecuting white-collar crimes and other cases, including investigating people close to the former president,” said Bruce Green, a professor at Fordham Law School and a former prosecutor in the Southern District.

The department said all victims had been notified and it is working to mitigate “operational, security and privacy risks” caused by the hack. The Justice Department said in January that it had no indication that any classified systems were impacted.

The Justice Department did not provide additional detail about what kind of information was taken and what impact such a hack may have on ongoing cases. Members of Congress have expressed frustration with the Biden administration for not sharing more information about the impact of the SolarWinds campaign.

The Associated Press previously reported that SolarWinds hackers had gained access to email accounts belonging to the then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and members of the department’s cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries.
https://apnews.com/article/technology-e ... 3d70a7fd64

Re: "Top US prosecutors hit by suspected Russian hack"

Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 11:07 am
by TrueTexan
The Justice Department did not provide additional detail about what kind of information was taken and what impact such a hack may have on ongoing cases. Members of Congress have expressed frustration with the Biden administration for not sharing more information about the impact of the SolarWinds campaign.
With the Repugs in Congress sharing the info is just letting Putin know how good the Russian hackers did and ways to prevent getting caught next time

Re: "Top US prosecutors hit by suspected Russian hack"

Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 6:02 pm
by tonguengroover
And this is how the ruskies will take us without firing a shot. Shut everything down, cause mayhem and it will be American vs American.

We are so fucked. Government is not taking precautions against breaches. Corporations are the worst.