SYSTEM ERROR

State Dept. Email System Hacked

Shut down Friday to secure unclassified emails.

The State Department shut down its entire email system over the weekend after technicians detected “activity of concern” in portions handling unclassified emails, according to a senior official. According to the official, no classified emails were breached. Following the AP’s initial report on the hacking incident, the State Department declined to comment on how many email accounts were affected. The State Department had said it shut down its worldwide email Friday as part of scheduled “maintenance,” but later admitted it was updating to deal with the security breach after the hacking report was made public. Evidence suggesting a hacker breached the system was discovered around the same time in late October as a hacking incident that targeted the White House computer network. While the White House incident was made public, the one targeting the State Department was not. Since then, other federal agencies have reported hacking incidences, including the U.S. Postal Service and the National Weather Service.