Washington: Top national security agencies in a rare joint statement have confirmed that Russia was likely responsible for a massive hack of US government departments and corporations, rejecting President Donald Trump's claim that China might be to blame.
The statement represented the government's first formal attempt to assign responsibility for the breaches at several agencies and to assign a possible motive for the operation. It said the hacks appeared to be part of an “intelligence-gathering," suggesting the evidence so far pointed to a Russian spying effort rather than an attempt to damage or disrupt US government operations.
“This is a serious compromise that will require a sustained and dedicated effort to remediate,” said the statement, distributed by a cyber working group comprised of the FBI and other investigative agencies.
Former Attorney-General William Barr always said the likely hacker was Russia. Credit:Bloomberg
US officials, including Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and cybersecurity experts have previously said Russia was to blame. But Trump, in a series of tweets late last month, sought to downplay the severity of the hack and raised the unsubstantiated idea that China could be responsible.
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