The Russian hacking group behind final yr’s large SolarWinds knowledge breach just lately focused the Republican Nationwide Committee, a report mentioned on Tuesday.
The federal government hackers are mentioned to have breached the RNC’s pc methods final week — although its unclear what knowledge they could have seen or stolen, Bloomberg Information reported, citing two individuals accustomed to the matter.
The hackers are a part of a bunch generally known as APT 29 or Cozy Bear, which has been linked to Russia’s international intelligence service, the report mentioned.
The gang was beforehand accused of hacking the Democratic Nationwide Committee in 2016, and of finishing up the December 2020 SolarWinds intrusion, during which a number of US authorities companies had been infiltrated.
An RNC spokesman denied that its methods had been breached, telling the outlet on Tuesday, “There isn’t a indication the RNC was hacked or any RNC info was stolen.”
“We’re investigating the matter and have knowledgeable DHS and the FBI,” the assertion mentioned.
Based on Bloomberg, the hackers breached RNC servers through the California-based IT company Synnex.
In a press launch, Synnex mentioned “it’s conscious of some situations the place exterior actors have tried to achieve entry, via Synnex, to buyer functions throughout the Microsoft cloud setting.”
“As our evaluation continues, we’re unable to offer any particular particulars,” the corporate mentioned in a press release to Bloomberg. “As with every safety difficulty, a full evaluation of all firms, methods, third-party functions and associated IT options have to be accomplished earlier than ultimate determinations could be made.”
The reported RNC hack occurred across the identical time as Friday’s large ransomware assault that focused lots of of US firms, which has additionally been tied to a Russia-linked cybercriminal gang known as REvil.
It’s not clear if the reported hack on the RNC is related in any solution to the ransomware assaults.