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Breach
2020
Hackers Accessed 632,000 Email Addresses at US Justice, Defense Departments

Hackers Accessed 632,000 Email Addresses at US Justice, Defense Departments

Table of Contents

Incident Details

During a significant cyber incident last summer, a hacking group that speaks Russian managed to gain entry to the email accounts of approximately 632,000 federal employees in the United States who work for the Departments of Defense and Justice. This breach was part of the extensive MOVEit hack.

Incident

How Did the Breach Happen?

The security breach occurred by taking advantage of weaknesses in MOVEit, a widely-used file transfer software.

What Data has been Compromised?

Around 632,000 email addresses belonging to employees of the United States federal government working in the departments of Defense and Justice were exposed to a security breach.

Why Did the company's Security Measures Fail?

The security of the company was compromised as hackers took advantage of vulnerabilities in the MOVEit file-transfer tool, leading to the failure of the security measures.

What Immediate Impact Did the Breach Have on the company?

The initial consequences of the security breach were not specified in the information given.

How could this have been prevented?

Regularly updating and patching the vulnerabilities in the MOVEit file-transfer tool, along with implementing enhanced cybersecurity measures, could have averted this security breach.

What have we learned from this data breach?

The significance of consistently updating and securing software tools, as well as upholding robust cybersecurity practices to safeguard sensitive information, has been highlighted through this incident involving data exposure.

Summary of Coverage

During the incident involving MOVEit, a hacking group that communicates in Russian managed to gain access to the email addresses of around 632,000 employees working for the US government in the Defense and Justice departments. This security breach was possible because the hackers exploited weaknesses in the MOVEit file-transfer application. The incident emphasizes the significance of consistently updating and securing software tools in order to avert unauthorized entry and safeguard confidential data.

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