A massive computer breach allowed hackers to spend months exploring numerous U.S. government networks and private companies’ systems around the world. Industry experts say a country mounted the complex hack — and government officials say Russia is responsible.
The hackers attached their malware to a software update from SolarWinds, a company based in Austin, Texas. Many federal agencies and thousands of companies worldwide use SolarWinds’ Orion software to monitor their computer networks.
SolarWinds says that nearly 18,000 of its customers — in the government and the private sector — received the tainted software update from March to June of this year.
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