Skip to main content Currently Reading Big Russian hack used a technique experts had warned about for years. Why wasn't the U.S. government ready? Craig Timberg, The Washington Post Feb. 9, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail WASHINGTON - The disastrous Russian hack of federal government networks last year relied on a powerful new trick: Digital spies penetrated so deeply they were able to impersonate any user they wanted. It was the computer network equivalent of sneaking into the State Department and printing perfectly forged U.S. passports. Cybersecurity researchers had warned for years that such an attack was possible. Those from one firm, FireEye, even released hacking tools in 2019 showing exactly how to do it - in hopes the revelation would spur the widespread deployment of better defenses.