The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, confirmed on Saturday, that Russia is behind the ongoing massive cyberattacks that breached several US federal agencies and companies all over the world, according to Sky News agency.
In an interview on Mark Levin Show, Pompeo said, "Now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity."
“We’re still unpacking precisely what it is, and I’m sure some of it will remain classified,” the American top diplomat added.
‘But suffice it to say there was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code inside the US government systems and it now appears systems of private companies and companies and governments across the world as well,” he continued.
Pompeo is now the first Trump administration official to pin the hack on Russia.
Pompeo's remarks came after the announcement of Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, that the suspected Russian hacking campaign has focused on more than 40 institutions.
The campaign, which US officials believe is the work of Russian intelligence, probably began in March, but was discovered only last week and has included several federal agencies.
A statement issued by multiple US agencies revealed that the hacking campaign is still "ongoing," which leaves the door open to the possibility of an increase in the number of institutions that have been hacked, and the extent of the damage incurred.
According to Smith, Microsoft has also been working this week to notify “more than 40 customers that the attackers targeted more precisely and compromised through additional and sophisticated measures.", according to the verge website.
He added that, approximately 80% of those customers are located in the US, but Microsoft also identified victims in Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, the UK, Israel, and the UAE.
“It’s certain that the number and location of victims will keep growing,” Smith said.
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