US Government Agencies Attacked By Russian Criminals

Uploaded on 2023-06-19 in INTELLIGENCE--USA, GOVERNMENT-National, FREE TO VIEW

A number of US federal government agencies have been hacked by Russian ransomware criminals known as Clop, who have exploited a software vulnerability in a file-sharing program, MOVEit from a leading software firm Progress, which is widely used in the corporate sector.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has said that several federal agencies have been hacked affecting their MOVEit applications, and they are working to understand impacts and ensure timely remediation.

While we don’t yet know the full extent of the attack on U.S. government agencies, it’s clear that even now many organizations still need to plug holes in their software applications to avoid becoming the next victim.

Aside from US government agencies, most of which have not been named, “several hundred” companies and organisations in the US have also been affected by the hacking spree, a senior CISA official has said. Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the university’s renowned health system said in a statement this week that “sensitive personal and financial information,” including health billing records may have been stolen in the hack.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s state-wide university system, which spans the 40,000-student University of Georgia along with over a dozen other state colleges and universities, confirmed it was investigating the “scope and severity” of the hack.

Federal authorities previously released a joint advisory noting that the file transfer software was vulnerable to attack. At the time, CISA and the FBI said the application was vulnerable to ransomware attacks in which data is locked or stolen and payment is demanded in return.

Amit Yoran, CEO of leading cybersecurity firm Tenable commented: "The Clop ransomware gang has focused on exploiting file transfer technologies for years and has had widespread success exploiting a known MOVEit flaw for weeks now.

Cybercriminals and nation states alike feast on known vulnerabilities and sloppy hygiene practices that leave organizations unnecessarily at risk. Unrelenting focus on identifying issues, prioritizing them and remediating them makes a world of difference."

CNN: Progress Software: Reuters: WEF: DefenseOne: ABC: The Week:

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