WORST-CASE SCENARIO

Russia’s Months-Long Mega-Hack Breached Department of Homeland Security, Says Report

The cyberspying campaign, which went undetected for months, penetrated the very department tasked with keeping the nation safe from cyberattacks.

The Department of Homeland Security, the very department tasked with keeping the nation safe from cyberattacks, was reportedly among the victims of a Russian mega-hack that went undetected for months. The Washington Post reports DHS, the State Department, and the National Institutes of Health have all joined the list of known victims of the sophisticated digital spying operation by Russia—the Treasury and Commerce departments had already been named. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service has been blamed for the campaign, which has been running since at least the spring. Hackers allegedly gained access to their victims’ systems by exploiting software patches sent to the systems by SolarWinds, which ­provides network-management tools. DHS spokesman Alexei Woltornist said the department is investigating.