According to the Justice Department, over 30 senior US prosecutors’ email accounts were hijacked during a massive breach last year.
The hack happened on a software SolarWinds and it affected its users. The US blames the hack was carried out by Russia.
According to the department, at least one computer in the offices of 27 US attorneys was hacked.
This has sparked concerns that the hackers may have obtained sensitive information, such as informant identities.
According to Gil Soffer, a former federal prosecutor, prosecutors’ emails include very sensitive, private, and frequently secret material.
If the hackers obtained the identities of covert informants, they might use the information to “blow their cover,” he added.
Last December, the attack, which offered cyber-criminals possible access to 18,000 government and private computer networks, was made public.
The hack affected 80 percent of Microsoft email accounts used by staff at the four New York attorney offices, which handle some of the country’s most notable cases.
They include a number of high-profile financial investigations, implying that any stolen material might be used for blackmail or extortion, according to former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti.
According to the government, hackers had access to the accounts as early as May 2020, seven months before the SolarWinds hack became public.
In reaction to the SolarWinds hack and other cyber assaults, US President Joe Biden’s government issued penalties against Russia in April.
Russia has categorically denied any involvement.
