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December 15, 2020

Pentagon and State Dept. Join Growing List of Agencies Hit by Cyber Espionage Attack
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Officials with the Trump administration are acknowledging the email
systems of the Pentagon, State Department and the Department of Homeland
Security were all compromised in a major cyberattack that also targeted
the Treasury and Commerce Departments, as well as nuclear laboratories
and some Fortune 500 companies. The National Security Council held an
emergency meeting Monday to discuss what has been described as the
biggest breach of U.S. government data in years.

The hackers allegedly inserted malicious software into an update for
network management software made by the private company Solar Winds,
which has 300,000 customers worldwide. The Trump administration has not
identified who was behind the attack, but multiple news agencies suggest
it was the work of hacking groups backed by the Russian government.

The news comes at a time when the government's Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency is without a director. President Trump
fired the agency's director, Chris Krebs, in November for claiming the
election was the "most secure in American history."


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