A group of hackers allegedly linked to Russia have gained access to the systems of the Treasury Department as well as a division of the US Commerce department, Reuters and The Washington Post have reported.
According to them, the attackers reportedly gained access to the systems in the spring and have been spying on the departments' e-mail since then.
Updates from IT company SolarWinds could have been exploited by the attackers. The attack could also have affected other departments, as the company offers its services to a large number of US government agencies.
The New York Times has called the hack one of the biggest attacks on US government systems in the last five years.
SolarWinds has confirmed the attack and stated the attackers are linked to a foreign country.
The Washington Post has reported the attack has been carried out by the hacker group Cozy Bear, also known as APT29. According to the news outlet, this group works for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. Russia has said the accusations are unfounded and has denied its participation in the attack.
Cozy Bear has been associated in the past with an attack on the US Democratic Party.
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