WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The unprecedented cyber attack on U.S. government agencies reported this month may have started earlier than last spring as previously believed, a U.S. senator involved in cybersecurity said on Wednesday.
Slideshow ( 2 images )U.S. investigators originally thought that the attack on government agencies and private industry targets began in March or April, including breaches of Treasury, State, Commerce and Energy Departments.
“The initial burrowing in may have started earlier,” Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, who serves as Vice-Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee told Reuters in an interview.
“We still don’t have for the private sector, or for that matter the public sector, any mandatory reporting” on major hacking incidents, Warner said.
Although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. government sources have said Russia is the principal suspect in the attack, Trump himself has questioned their responsibility and suggested China might be behind the attack.
Persons:
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Organizations:
WASHINGTON, Treasury, Commerce, Energy, ., Democratic, Senate Intelligence Committee, Reuters, ”, U.S, White
Locations:
U.S, State, Russia, United States, Texas, China