SolarWinds hackers could have been waylaid by simple countermeasure - U.S. officials

FILE PHOTO: A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Following a decade-old security recommendation could have helped stymie the Russian hackers who ran amok across federal government networks last year, the Department of Homeland Security's digital defense arm said in a letter sent earlier this month.

As the United States prepares to pour billions of dollars into shoring up its cybersecurity following a series of dramatic intrusions by foreign hackers, the acknowledgement from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) highlights how basic digital security measures can help defeat or at least mitigate the impact of even the most severe breaches.