While Russia has continued to deny its involvement in the attacks, as first reported by ZDNet, the Russia's NKTsKI issued a warning to Russian organizations to improve their networks' security.
The Russian government has issued a security alert warning Russian businesses of potential cyberattacks launched by the United States in response to the SolarWinds incident.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control identified the firm, Barkat Ventures, as an arm of an organization that the supreme leader of Iran controls called EIKO, short for Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order.
Around 2013, U.S. intelligence began noticing an alarming pattern: Undercover CIA personnel, flying into countries in Africa and Europe for sensitive work, were being rapidly and successfully identified by Chinese intelligence.
While the US has not publicly identified the attackers, Reuters reported that "three of the people familiar with the investigation said Russia is currently believed to be responsible for the attack."
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called for a response to a cyberattack on U.S. government systems on Sunday, and said that Russia should face consequences for its alleged involvement.
Because states routinely spy on one another—friends and foes alike—there are a very limited number of credible punishments states can use to threaten others into not spying.
People familiar with the matter told Reuters the hackers were believed to be working for Russia and that they feared the hacks uncovered so far may be the tip of the iceberg.
In addition to warning about the VMware bug, the NSA emphasized that it "encourages NSS, DoD and DIB network administrators to prioritize mitigation of the vulnerability on affected servers."
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