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In a wide-spread cyber-attack on US federal agencies and enterprises, hackers also broke into the networks of NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), <em>The Washington Post </em>has reported, saying the Biden administration is reportedly preparing sanctions against Russia as the cybercriminals are &quot;likely Russian in origin&quot;.</div>
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Nine federal agencies and about 100 private sector companies were compromised as a result of the SolarWinds hack, the White House said last week.</div>
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NASA and the FAA were named ahead of a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing tasked with investigating the widespread cyberattack.</div>
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A spokesperson for NASA did not dispute the report but declined to comment citing an &quot;ongoing investigation.&quot;</div>
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A spokesperson for the FAA did not respond to a request for comment.</div>
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The other federal agencies that were attacked include the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, Justice and State, the Treasury and the National Institutes of Health.</div>
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The cyber-attacks were discovered last year after FireEye reported its own network was breached.</div>
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Although the hack was &quot;likely of Russian origin,&quot; the hackers launched their attack from inside the US, Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, said in a briefing.</div>
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To carry out the attack, hackers installed a malware in the Orion software sold by the IT management company SolarWinds.</div>
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&quot;As you know, roughly 18,000 entities downloaded the malicious update. So the scale of potential access far exceeded the number of known compromises,&quot; Neuberger said, adding that many of the private sector compromises are technology companies, including networks of companies whose products could be used to launch additional intrusions.</div>
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&quot;The hackers launched the hack from inside the United States, which further made it difficult for the US government to observe their activity,&quot; she added.</div>
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The top cybersecurity official informed that the intelligence community is looking at who is responsible.</div>
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Earlier media reports suggested that the hackers compromised at least 250 federal agencies and top enterprises in the US.</div>
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According to Microsoft, the hackers compromised &#39;SolarWinds&#39; software allowing them to &quot;impersonate any of the organisation&#39;s existing users and accounts, including highly privileged accounts.&quot;</div>
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Microsoft said it had discovered its systems were infiltrated &quot;beyond just the presence of malicious &#39;SolarWinds&#39; code.&quot;</div>
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It may take several months for the US government to complete the investigation into the SolarWinds hack.</div>
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<em>(IANS)&nbsp;</em></div>
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