Hackers working for the Russian government gained access to the internal communications of the US Department of Homeland Security. This was reported by Reuters, citing its sources. The ministry said they are aware of the cyber attacks and are already working on countermeasures in connection with the threats received.
"A team of sophisticated hackers, presumably working for the Russian government, gained access to the internal communications of the US Department of Homeland Security," the agency said. At the same time, Reuters did not provide evidence of the involvement of the Russians in the cyberattack.
The US Department of Homeland Security reported that they are aware of cyber hacks and are already working on a federal response to them.
“The Ministry of Homeland Security is aware of cyber hacks in the federal government and is working closely with our partners, both public and private, on a federal response to this,” said Assistant Minister for Public Relations Alexei Voltornist.
Reuters noted that the hacking of the ministry's internal communications was a continuation of the cyberattack announced on December 13. Then the hackers gained access to the Treasury and the US Department of Commerce.
The American edition of The Washington Post, citing sources in the US intelligence services, previously reported on a cyberattack against the US Treasury and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). According to the newspaper, hackers from the APT29 (Cozy Bear) group, which, according to the newspaper, works for Russian intelligence, were behind the attack. Reuters confirmed information about the attack on the systems of the two departments and indicated that hackers had been tracking emails of NTIA employees for several months.
The press service of the US Department of Commerce later confirmed information about the hacking of the NTIA computer network. The FBI is investigating. According to Reuters, the leak turned out to be quite serious - after its discovery, an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (SNB) at the White House was called.
Russian President's press secretary Dmitry Peskov later noted that Russia was not involved in the incident. According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered the United States cooperation on cybersecurity, but the American side did not respond to the offer.
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