Russian ransomware group breaches federal agencies

A gang of Russian hackers called Clop exploited the program MOVEit Transfer to gather data on anyone that uses it, including federal agencies, Homeland Security officials said. MOVEit allows businesses to securely share files, such as sensitive financial and insurance data. The hackers started exploiting a flaw in MOVEit about two weeks ago and have since been hobbling universities and local governments in the United States. They have supposedly accessed data from hundreds of companies, organizations, and a few federal agencies, including the Energy Department, officials said.

What do they want? The hackers gave their targets until Wednesday to contact them about paying a ransom. They have since added more companies to their list of those hacked. But the group posted on its website that it deleted any information on government, city, or police offices. Instead, it said it is focusing only on business data.

Dig deeper: Listen to Myrna Brown’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about whether an online war with Russia is imminent.