WASHINGTON: Hackers are said to have broken into the networks of U.S. space agency NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration as part of a wider espionage campaign targeting U.S. government agencies and private companies, The Washington Post has reported, saying the Biden administration is reportedly preparing sanctions against Russia as the cybercriminals are "likely Russian in origin".

Nine federal agencies and about 100 private sector companies were compromised as a result of the SolarWinds hack, the White House said last week. NASA and the FAA were named ahead of a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing tasked with investigating the widespread cyberattack.

A spokesperson for NASA did not dispute the report but declined to comment citing an "ongoing investigation." A spokesperson for the FAA did not respond to a request for comment.

The other federal agencies that were attacked include the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Homeland Security, Justice and State, the Treasury and the National Institutes of Health. The cyber-attacks were discovered last year after FireEye reported its own network was breached.

Although the hack was "likely of Russian origin," the hackers launched their attack from inside the US, Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, said in a briefing. To carry out the attack, hackers installed a malware in the Orion software sold by the IT management company SolarWinds.

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