The
State Department on Sunday became the fourth government agency to
announce a breach of its computer systems in recent weeks, after an
infiltration forced the agency to temporarily shut down its unclassified
email system and public websites.
The
breach, which the agency said did not affect any of its classified
systems, follows a similar one involving the unclassified computer
systems of the White House last month, which also resulted in a
temporary shutdown of its communications systems. There have been
similar breaches at the United States Postal Service and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
It
was not immediately clear if the attacks were related. The State
Department breach was first reported Sunday by The Associated Press.
“This
has impacted some of our unclassified email traffic and our access to
public websites from our main unclassified system,” said one senior
State Department official, adding that the department expected its
systems to be up soon.
While
the attack at the White House was quickly contained, the breach at the
Postal Service, reported last week, compromised a database containing
telephone numbers and email addresses of customers who contacted the
agency’s call center between January and mid-August.
Security
experts say hackers are probing government agencies to understand what
kind of data is accessible. But it remains a matter of debate whether
the attacks are related, and the exact identities of the intruders
remain uncertain, officials say.
The
breach at the White House was believed to be the work of hackers in
Russia, while the breaches at NOAA and the Postal Service were believed
to the work of hackers inside China. Attributing attacks to a group or
nation is difficult because hackers typically tend to route their attack
through compromised web servers all over the world.
A
senior State Department official said the breach was discovered after
“activity of concern” was detected on portions of its unclassified
computer system. Officials did not say how long hackers may have been
lurking in those systems, but security improvements were being added to
them on Sunday.
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