Security News > 2021 > April > Senators Press for More on SolarWinds Hack After AP Report
Key lawmakers said Tuesday they're concerned they've been kept in the dark about what suspected Russian hackers stole from the federal government and they pressed Biden administration officials for more details about the scope of what's known as the SolarWinds hack.
The AP reported last month that suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration's acting homeland security secretary, Chad Wolf, and members of his department's cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries.
It's been nearly four months since officials discovered what they describe as a sprawling, monthslong cyberespionage effort done largely through a hack of a widely used software from Texas-based SolarWinds Inc. At least nine federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, were hacked, along with dozens of private-sector companies.
Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser, said in an interview with The Associated Press last week there were "Gaps" in basic cybersecurity defenses at some of the nine agencies affected, which have hampered officials' ability to determine what the hackers accessed.
She said the administration has identified five needed modernizations as a result of its review of how the SolarWinds hack happened, including using technology that continuously monitors for malicious activity and requiring greater use of multi-factor authentication so systems can't be accessed with a stolen password alone.
The AP interviewed more than a dozen current and former U.S. government officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the ongoing investigation into the hack.