US under major active cyberattack from Russia, Trump’s former security adviser warns

‘At the worst possible time, when the United States is at its most vulnerable … the networks of the federal government and much of corporate America are compromised by a foreign nation’

The United States is currently suffering from an active cyberattack likely perpetrated by nefarious foreign actors targeting federal institutions and major corporations, President Donald Trump’s former Homeland Security adviser has warned in an explosive new report.

Thomas Bossert, who served as a top homeland security adviser to both Mr Trump and former President George W Bush, detailed the attack in an article published on Thursday in the New York Times that said “the magnitude of this national security breach is hard to overstate.”

“At the worst possible time, when the United States is at its most vulnerable — during a presidential transition and a devastating public health crisis — the networks of the federal government and much of corporate America are compromised by a foreign nation,” the career security adviser wrote.

He went on to say the “attack points to the Russian intelligence agency known as the S.V.R., whose tradecraft is among the most advanced in the world” and could have compromised over 18,000 organizations, from Fortune 500 companies to unclassified networks operated by the federal government.

The alleged Russian hackers have already infiltrated countless systems and “covered their tracks” according to the security analyst, who said they gained “persistent access” which is “the ability to infiltrate and control networks in a way that is hard to detect or remove.”

The attack may have involved as many as 425 of the Fortune 500 companies in the US.

Though the hackers likely attempted to gain persistent access to thousands of networks across the country, Mr Bossert suggested they managed to “gain complete control” in “hundreds” of systems nationwide.

“The logical conclusion is that we must act as if the Russian government has control of all the networks it has penetrated,” he added. “But it is unclear what the Russians intend to do next. The access the Russians now enjoy could be used for far more than simply spying.”

The damage is already done in many instances, Mr Bossert asserted, and said a longterm fix would involve far more than a simple removal of the impacted systems.

Mr Bossert said resolving the cyberattack would required “the segregated replacement of entire enclaves of computers, network hardware and servers across vast federal and corporate networks” while remaining in operation. How the nation’s computer systems remain active amid Russian intrusion while rooting out the hackers would be “difficult” but ultimately necessary, the security adviser wrote.

“President Trump is on the verge of leaving behind a federal government, and perhaps a large number of major industries, compromised by the Russian government,” he concluded. “President-elect Joe Biden must begin his planning to take charge of this crisis.”