The Russian hackers behind the SolarWinds attack on the federal government are launching a new global cyberattack on more than 150 government agencies, think tanks, and other organizations, according to Microsoft.
The hacking group, which Microsoft calls “Nobelium,” went after 3,000 email accounts within multiple organizations this week, most of which were in the United States, the software giant said in a report on Thursday.
RUSSIAN HACKER GROUP THREATENS TO RELEASE SENSITIVE DC POLICE RECORDS
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, is calling for further sanctions on Russia following the new hacking campaign by Nobelium.
Microsoft said the group succeeded in gaining access to the right online networks through an email marketing account used by the U.S. Agency for International Development, which works closely with many international development and human rights groups that were also attacked.
“The Russians have a campaign plan for massive attacks against U.S. targets, for which they have no incentive to stop,” James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank told CNN. “They aren’t afraid of the U.S. response. They are testing the new administration.”
Nobelium is believed to be in cahoots with the same Russian hacking group that attacked software vendor SolarWinds last year, causing huge damage to at least nine U.S. federal agencies and dozens of companies.
“These attacks appear to be a continuation of multiple efforts by Nobelium to target government agencies involved in foreign policy as part of intelligence gathering efforts,” Microsoft said in its report on Thursday.
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The U.S. is on high alert regarding cyberattacks after a hacking group, known to be from Eastern Europe, shut down one of the country’s critical sources of energy, the Colonial Pipeline, which significantly slowed gas delivery on the East Coast earlier this month.
