US Congressional staff exposed in Library of Congress email hack

Date:
Tue, 19 Nov 2024 16:05:00 +0000

Description:
US Congressional researchers had correspondence compromised by a foreign actor

FULL STORY

Email correspondence to and from staff at the US Library of Congress
Congressional Research Service have been compromised by a foreign adversary 
in an elaborate hack, reports have claimed. 

From January to September 2024, foreign actors have been able to access 
emails between congressional legislative staff and researchers, according to
NBC News . 

It's not yet known exactly how many or which emails were accessed by the
hackers, but Congress staff are concerned given the sensitive nature of
communications between legislative staff and researchers.

Sensitive information

 The Library of Congress is a research library that serves and has dedicated
research staff to Congress, responding to over 76,000 inquiries in 2023. The
staff offer policy and legal analysis to congressional committees, making it
an invaluable resource. 

Because of the nature of the librarys work, it's likely that hackers had
access to preliminary legislative proposals, or got unauthorized access to
staffers opinions and ideas. Reports have confirmed that the US Copyright
Office was not impacted. 

The attack is said to have been carried out by a foreign adversary, although
its not clear which nation actor was behind the breach as of yet. 
Cyberattacks from the Big Four (Iran, Russia, China, and the DPRK) have all
increased dramatically in the run up to the election , so investigators will
likely be looking in these directions. 

As of yet, the origin of the breach is unknown, but staff have been reminded
of the phishing and email security guidance, suggesting this may have been 
the point of origin. 

This isnt the first time in recent months Congressional staff have had their
data compromised, as in September 2024, it was revealed almost 3,200 US
politicians and staff had their data leaked to the dark web, meaning nearly
20% of people working in Congress were exposed.

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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/us-congressional-staff-exposed-in-libra
ry-of-congress-email-hack

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