Hackers hit the offices of top US federal prosecutors nationwide last December, breaking in to email accounts, the Department of Justice said Friday. As part of the SolarWinds hack, attackers accessed accounts at nearly 30 US Attorneys' offices, including offices in Washington, DC; New York and California, the DOJ said.
The department had revealed in January that its Microsoft O365 email environment had been breached, but it hadn't provided the information about the US Attorneys.
"The Department of Justice understands that when victims make information public about the nature and scope of computer intrusions they suffered, others can use that information to prepare themselves for the next threat," the DOJ said in a statement Friday. "To encourage transparency and strengthen homeland resilience, today we are providing additional details about the SolarWinds intrusion in December 2020."
The DOJ said at least one employee's account had been accessed at 27 offices from the West Coast to the East. It said at least 80% of employees at the US Attorneys' offices in the Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Districts of New York had seen their accounts breached, with other districts "impacted to a lesser degree."