Suspected Chinese hackers used SolarWinds bug to spy on US p...

Suspected Chinese hackers used SolarWinds bug to spy on US payroll

The Straits Times | 2021-02-02 23:28

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Suspected Chinese hackers exploited a flaw in software made by SolarWinds Corp to help break into US government computers last year, five people familiar with the matter told Reuters, marking a new twist in a sprawling cybersecurity breach that US lawmakers have labelled a national security emergency. Two people briefed on the case said FBI investigators recently found that the National Finance Centre, a federal payroll agency inside the US Department of Agriculture, was among the affected organisations, raising fears that data on thousands of government employees may have been compromised. The software flaw exploited by the suspected Chinese group is separate from the one the United States has accused Russian government operatives of using to compromise up to 18,000 SolarWinds customers, including sensitive federal agencies, by hijacking the company's Orion netw...

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