Officials of the U.S Commerce has confirmed on Sunday that there was a data breach on one of their bureaus. The White House National Security Council are also looking into a possible unauthorized intrusion at the Treasury Department. According to some reliable sources, the hackers are believed to be linked to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, targeting U.S agencies and companies including FireEye, a top cybersecurity company in the country. Currently, the FBI together with the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are working closely together to investigate the security breach and mitigate the illegal activity.
CNN: Russian-affiliated group, known as APT29, as the suspected culprit behind the FireEye breach
In a statement issued by the Commerce Department to CNN, it has confirmed that there has been a breach in one of the U.S bureaus that the FBI and CISA are jointly investigating.
According to Washington Post, the FBI is investigating and that the same Russia-linked group breached the elite cybersecurity firm FireEye, which just last week disclosed an attack compromising the so-called “Red Team” tools it uses to protect cybersecurity clients, including government customers.
CNN has previously reported the Russian-affiliated group, known as APT29, as the suspected culprit behind the FireEye breach, citing a person familiar with the matter.
NBC News: FireEye’s CEO said last week that it had been hacked “by a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities.”
According to Washington Post, the hacks were carried out by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, or SVR, reports NBC News.
Among the SVR’s targets was FireEye, a major U.S. cybersecurity company with extensive government contracts, The Post reported. The company’s CEO said last week that it had been hacked “by a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities.”
A private cybersecurity official briefed on the matter confirmed the SVR’s involvement to NBC News.
FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia said the hackers’ primary goal appeared to be to steal information from the company’s government clients.
