OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Oak Ridge Associated Universities said Monday that they were affected by a "cyber incident" on Friday that also impacted the Department of Energy and several other federal agencies.
ORAU and several other agencies use a program named "MOVEit," which is meant to securely transfer files between users. However, the company behind the program found a flaw in their code which allowed unauthorized users to exploit it, according to a release from ORAU.
They said they were coordinating with the Department of Energy and had secured their systems, taking "all appropriate measures in cooperation with the federal government" and were "working on proper notification to affected parties."
The parent company patched the program on May 31 and alerted customers to the breach, according to the Associated Press, which also described the hack as "opportunistic" as opposed to a large and organized campaign. They also reported that "The Clop," an online hacking group, said they were behind the cyberattack.