14 DAY TRIAL // The Department of Justice reported that Russian hackers behind the large SolarWinds cyberespionage campaign gained access to the email accounts of some of the most important federal prosecutors' offices across the country, according to Security Week.
According to the Justice Department, the servers were breached between May 7 and December 27, 2020. That timeframe is noteworthy since it was initially identified and reported on December 22, the same day the SolarWinds campaign was carried out.
Microsoft's Office email accounts belonging to employees at the four U.S. prosecutors' offices in New York are believed to have been compromised to the extent of 80%. The Justice Department found that as many as 27 U.S. state attorney offices were affected.
The Administrative Office of the United States Courts specifies that a hack was conducted on the U.S. Courts computer network in January that allowed further access to confidential government information such as espionage targets, whistleblower reports, trade secrets, and arrest warrants. Moreover, Homeland Security secretary and members of its cybersecurity team had their email accounts accessed by hackers.
A cyberattack on U.S. Courts resulted in the leak of confidential information
Many large and high-profile government agencies, such as those in Washington, Miami, Los Angeles, and the Eastern District of Virginia, are on the list of those who were affected. The organization reported that all the victims have been notified and that it was mitigating operational, security, and privacy risks stemming from the incident.
The Department of Justice announced in January that it found no evidence that classified systems had been compromised. As for the stolen information, Justice Department did not provide any further details about what kind of material was stolen and what impact this might have on pending cases.
When the Biden administration imposed sanctions in April to counteract the SolarWinds hack and Russian interference in the 2020 presidential race, it included the expulsion of dozens of Russian diplomats. Russia has rejected accusations of malfeasance. Congressional representatives have expressed discontent with the Biden administration, saying that the government is not disclosing more information about the SolarWinds campaign's impact.