AP sources: SolarWinds hack got emails of top DHS officials

In this Aug 18, 2020, file photo acting-Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, center, arrives to join President Donald Trump at Andrews Air Force Base in Md. In December, US officials discovered that federal agencies had fallen victim to a cyberespionage effort pulled off largely through a hack of SolarWinds software .The hackers accessed accounts belonging to then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who focus on finding cyber threats from nation-state adversaries like Russia, according to current and former senior Homeland Security Department and intelligence officials who were briefed on the extent of the breach. - AP

Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration's head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department's cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries, The Associated Press has learned.

The intelligence value of the hacking of then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his staff is not publicly known, but the symbolism is stark. Their accounts were accessed as part of what's known as the SolarWinds intrusion and it throws into question how the US government can protect individuals, companies and institutions across the country if it can’t protect itself.