WASHINGTON (AP) –
The Justice Department revealed on Wednesday that it is among the federal agencies affected by a massive violation of government networks that US officials have linked up with Russia.
The extent of the damage was unclear. The department said 3% of Microsoft Office 365 email accounts were potentially affected, but did not say who those accounts belonged to. There are no indications that classified systems have been affected, the agency said.
The department said it detected “previously unknown malicious activity” on Dec. 24 related to wider intrusions by federal agencies revealed earlier that month, according to a statement from spokesman Marc Raimondi.
The statement came a day after federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies officially implicated Russia in intrusions, which officials said were part of a suspicious intelligence gathering operation. President Donald Trump has previously raised without evidence the idea that China could be to blame.
The hacking campaign was extraordinary, with intruders tracking government agencies, defense contractors and telecommunications companies for months until the breach was discovered. Experts say this has given foreign agents enough time to collect data that could be very detrimental to US national security, although the scope of the violations and exactly what information was sought are not known.
An estimated 18,000 organizations have been affected by malicious code that started with popular network management software from a company in Austin, Texas called SolarWinds. However, among these customers, “a much smaller number have been compromised by the continuation of their systems”, the statement said, noting that so far less than 10 federal government agencies have been identified as being in this category.