Vox Sentences - Good (vaccine) tidings we bring

After a week of alarming revelations, here’s what we know about a major hack targeting multiple US government agencies and at least one private company.

• Reporting indicates that at least six federal departments — Defense, Commerce, Treasury, State, Homeland Security, and Energy — were breached in the attack, as was Microsoft. [Vox / Alex Ward]
• More details are still emerging, but government officials have suggested that a Russian hacking group called Cozy Bear, which has been involved in several previous attacks in the US, is likely responsible. The group has ties to Russian intelligence. [Recode / Sara Morrison]
• According to the New York Times, officials believe the goal of the attack was likely “traditional espionage” — but it’s possible the hackers could mount a far more damaging attack if they wanted to. [NYT / David E. Sanger and Nicole Perlroth]
• The federal government has also warned that the attack, which appears to have been perpetrated using malware inserted into a network safety tool produced by the cybersecurity company SolarWinds, is “significant and ongoing.” [Guardian / Kari Paul]
• Among other targets, portions of the National Nuclear Security Administration network appear to have been compromised in the attack, though officials say that no “mission essential national security functions” of the agency were affected. [Politico / Natasha Bertrand and Eric Wolff]
• The hacking effort is believed to have begun in March, if not earlier, and there’s no easy way to repair the security breach: According to the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, “removing the threat actor from compromised environments will be highly complex and challenging.” [CNBC / Sam Shead]

[Twitter / Emily Cochrane]

• A slew of presidential pardons could be announced on Friday night. [Axios / Jonathan Swan]
• The Supreme Court won’t rule on Trump’s attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants from congressional apportionment — yet. [Vox / Ian Millhiser]
• “I’ve never seen anything like this. … And one of the worst things about it is there’s no end in sight”: What it’s like in a California ICU overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients. [Washington Post / Scott Wilson, Jon Gerberg, and Michael S. Williamson]
• The 344 students abducted in Nigeria last week have been released safely. [NPR / Colin Dwyer]
• “Four-legged weed whackers”: Landscaping goats are adorable and efficient. [WSJ / Konrad Putzier]