Suspected Chinese Hackers Also Exploited SolarWinds: Reuters

(Bloomberg) -- Suspected Chinese hackers broke into U.S. government computers last year by exploiting a flaw in software made by SolarWinds Corp., Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The suspected Chinese hackers exploited a different flaw in SolarWinds’s software than alleged Russian hackers used in a sprawling cyber-attack against the U.S. government and private companies that was revealed in December, according to Reuters. In that attack, as many as 18,000 SolarWinds’s customers received updates that included malicious code, though far fewer are believed to have been further infiltrated by the hackers.

The National Finance Center, a payroll agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was among the federal agencies affected by the alleged Chinese attack, according to Reuters. A USDA official denied the report to Bloomberg News.

SolarWinds wasn’t immediately available for comment. The FBI declined to comment.

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