US government agencies hit in global hacking spree (updated)
15/06/2023 16:55
(Adds background in paragraphs 6-10)
June 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has been hit in
a global hacking campaign that exploited a vulnerability in
widely used software but does not expect it to have significant
impact, the nation's cyber watchdog agency said on Thursday.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
(CISA) said several federal bodies had experienced intrusions
following the discovery of a weakness in the file transfer
software MOVEit, Eric Goldstein, the agency's executive
assistant director for cybersecurity, said in a statement.
"We are working urgently to understand impacts and ensure
timely remediation," he said. CNN first reported on the
statement.
CISA did not identify the agencies that were hit or say
exactly how they had been affected. It did not immediately
respond to requests seeking further comment. The FBI and
National Security Agency also did not immediately respond to
emails seeking details on the breaches.
The United States does not expect any "significant impact"
from the breach, CISA Director Jen Easterly told MSNBC.
MOVEit, made by Progress Software Corp PRGS.O , is
typically used by organizations to transfer files between their
partners or customers.
It could be used to by a financial institution that requires
their customers to upload their data to apply for a loan, John
Hammond, a senior researcher at the security firm Huntress, said
earlier this month.
"There's a whole lot of potential for what an adversary
might be able to get into," he said.
The online extortion group Cl0p, which has claimed credit
for the MOVEit hack, has previously said it would not exploit
any data taken from government agencies.
"IF YOU ARE A GOVERNMENT, CITY OR POLICE SERVICE DO NOT
WORRY, WE ERASED ALL YOUR DATA," the group said in a statement
on its website.
Neither Cl0p nor Progress immediately responded to requests
for comment.
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BA, BBC and Boots caught up in file transfer hack
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(Reporting by Raphael Satter, Kanishka Singh, Zeba Siddiqui,
Shivani Tanna and Chandi Shah; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Angus
MacSwan and Bill Berkrot)
((ShivaniJayesh.Tanna@thomsonreuters.com;))