Firm that's 'usually the first call for cyberattack victims' says it was hacked
![FireEye offices in Milpitas, Calif](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RNxsFmXA83c7PWiMQgZuQG-415-80.jpg)
Cybersecurity firm FireEye has disclosed it was the victim of cyberattack it believes to have been carried out "by a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities."
The firm made this announcement on Tuesday, with CEO Kevin Mandia saying in a blog post that "we were attacked by a highly sophisticated threat actor, one whose discipline, operational security, and techniques lead us to believe it was a state-sponsored attack." The attacker "primarily sought information related to certain government customers," the firm said. Fireye is "usually the first call for cyberattack victims the world over," The New York Times' Nicole Perlroth wrote.
Though FireEye didn't identify a suspect, the Times reports that the information provided pointed to Russian intelligence agencies, and according to The Wall Street Journal, investigators see Russia as "the most likely culprit."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Mandia said the firm, which is investigating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, found the attackers "accessed certain Red Team assessment tools." Such tools are "used by cybersecurity companies to probe the defenses of their customers and identify possible vulnerabilities that can be attacked," the Journal reports. FireEye hasn't seen evidence that an attacker used the stolen tools, and it has "prepared countermeasures that can detect or block the use" of them, it said.
But former NSA hacker Patrick Wardle explained to the Times that "hackers could leverage FireEye's tools to hack risky, high-profile targets with plausible deniability."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Paris Olympics: will it be a success?
Today's Big Question Organisers hope the 'spectacle' of the 2024 Games will lift the cloud of negativity that has hung over the build-up
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 20 - 26 July
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Week Unwrapped: The dark world of illicit gambling
Podcast Plus, the pension pot shortfall and Obama's silence on Harris
By The Week Staff Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published