Axios: Russian Hacks 'Act of War'

All fingers are pointing to Russia as author of the worst-ever hack of U.S. government agencies. (Patrick Semansky/AP)

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Axios says Russia’s hacking campaign targeting U.S. government agencies and international companies is an act of war.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency earlier this week confirmed a sophisticated cyberattack on the U.S. government with the use of network management software made by SolarWinds, a Texas-headquartered IT firm.

One U.S. official labeled it the “worst hacking case in the history of America.”

“They got into everything,” the official told Fox News.

Microsoft on Friday said the hacking is “a moment of reckoning.”

"As much as anything, this attack provides a moment of reckoning," Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote. "It requires that we look with clear eyes at the growing threats we face and commit to more effective and collaborative leadership by the government and the tech sector in the United States to spearhead a strong and coordinated global cybersecurity response."

Microsoft said more than 40 client organizations, 80% of which are U.S.-based, were compromised.

“If this had been a physical attack on America's secrets, we could be at war,” Mike Allen of Axios wrote Friday.

“Imagine if during the Cold War, the Soviet Union had broken into a building in Washington and walked out with correspondence, budgets and more.”

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Ala., made the same suggestion.

"It's pretty hard to distinguish this from an act of aggression that rises to the level of an attack that qualifies as war,” Coons said during an appearance on MSNBC. ... “[T]his is as destructive and broad scale an engagement with our military systems, our intelligence systems as has happened in my lifetime."