US Government Targeted in Worldwide Cyber Attack

The U.S. Government Hit in Global Hacking Campaign

The U.S. government has fallen victim to a global hacking campaign that exploited a vulnerability in widely used software. However, the nation’s cyber watchdog agency, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), assures that the impact will not be significant.

“We are working urgently to understand impacts and ensure timely remediation,” said Eric Goldstein, the executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA.

CNN first reported on the statement, revealing that several federal bodies have experienced intrusions following the discovery of a weakness in the file transfer software MOVEit.

Agencies Affected and Response

CISA has not disclosed the specific agencies that were hit or the extent of the damage caused. Requests for further comment from CISA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency have gone unanswered.

Despite the breach, CISA Director Jen Easterly assured MSNBC that the United States does not anticipate any “significant impact” from the incident.

Potential Consequences

MOVEit, developed by Progress Software Corp, is commonly used by organizations to transfer files between partners or customers. This means that the breach could potentially expose sensitive data uploaded by customers, such as financial information for loan applications.

John Hammond, a senior researcher at the security firm Huntress, warned, “There’s a whole lot of potential for what an adversary might be able to get into.”

Cl0p’s Statement

The online extortion group Cl0p, which has claimed responsibility for the MOVEit hack, has stated that it will not exploit any data taken from government agencies. On their website, they reassured, “IF YOU ARE A GOVERNMENT, CITY OR POLICE SERVICE DO NOT WORRY, WE ERASED ALL YOUR DATA.”

Requests for comment from Cl0p and Progress Software Corp have not been answered.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter, Kanishka Singh, Zeba Siddiqui, Shivani Tanna, and Chandi Shah; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Angus MacSwan, and Bill Berkrot)