US Federal Agencies Hacked Using Legitimate Remote Desktop Tools

The U.S. government's cybersecurity agency has warned that criminal financially motivated hackers compromised federal agencies using legitimate remote desktop software. From a report: CISA said in a joint advisory with the National Security Agency on Wednesday that it had identified a 'widespread cyber campaign involving the malicious use of legitimate remote monitoring and management (RMM) software' that had targeted multiple federal civilian executive branch agencies -- known as FCEBs -- a list that includes Homeland Security, the Treasury, and the Justice Department.

CISA said it first identified suspected malicious activity on two FCEB systems in October while conducting a retrospective analysis using Einstein, a government-operated intrusion detection system used for protecting federal civilian agency networks. Further analysis led to the conclusion that many other government networks were also affected.

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