Nearly 200 organizations have been hacked by Russia as part of the cybersecurity attack on SolarWinds, a third-party software contractor, which has compromised multiple government agencies, Bloomberg News reported.
Massachusetts-based cybersecurity firm Recorded Future identified 198 people who were hacked by a malicious update, threat analyst Allan Lisa told the news outlet.
Three people familiar with the investigation told Bloomberg that the hack further compromised at least 200 victims by attempting to move around their computer networks or obtain user data.
According to Bloomberg, approximately 18,000 SolarWinds customers have received the malicious update. Of that number, more than 1,000 experienced a malicious code ping that gave hackers further access to sensitive networks.
The identity of the victims was not disclosed to Bloomberg and the number is expected to increase as the investigation progresses.
A SolarWinds spokesperson told the news center that it “remains focused on working with customers and experts to share information and better understand this issue.”
The Hill has reached out to SolarWinds and Recorded Future for comment and confirmation of the investigation.
The analysis comes as America is grappling with the fallout from the hack, which some have suggested could add up an act of war. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Agency said this week that the attack posed a “serious risk” to government and private sector organizations.
Reuters reported for the first time last Sunday that the Treasury Department and a Commerce Department agency were compromised as part of the SolarWinds breach. The Washington Post later reported that Russian military intelligence unit “Cozy Bear” was allegedly behind the attack.
During a interview on the Mark Levin
MORE Show ”Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Mike Pompeo Championing Democracy: How America Can Dilute The Rise Of Authoritarian Powers said “we can say quite clearly that it was the Russians who were involved in the activity.”
Yet President Trump
Donald Trump Trump Signs Bill To Keep Government Open Amid US Emergency Talks To Shut Down Two Russian Consulates ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Social Media Trends Following New Space Force Name MORE downplayed the hack on Saturday, wondering if Russia was really behind the cyber attack, saying on Twitter that “everything is well under control.”
“Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority song when something happens, because Lamestream, for mostly financial reasons, is petrified of discussing the possibility that it could be China (it could!),” Trump tweeted.
Multiple government agencies have reportedly been compromised in the past week, including the State Department, the Department of Defense and agencies within the Ministry of Energy.