US State Department shuts down email system after suspected hacker attack

The US State Department has shut down its entire unclassified email system after a suspected hacker attack, the latest in a string of federal agencies to suffer a security breach. The State Department is currently beefing up the security measures and trying to figure out who the cyber attackers might be.

According to the Reuters, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said none of the department's classified systems was compromised. Portions of its unclassified systems have been shut down to improve their security but should be back online shortly.

"The department recently detected activity of concern in portions of its unclassified email system. There was no compromise of any of the department's classified systems." said the senior U.S. official.

"The department is implementing improvements to the security of its main unclassified network during a scheduled outage of some internet linked systems," the official added.

"This has impacted some of our unclassified email traffic and our access to public websites from our main unclassified system. We expect our systems to be up and running soon."

Last week, the US Postal Service said hackers stole sensitive personal information from its employees in a large data breach this year, and got some customer data as well. The breach affected as many as 800,000 people who are paid by the agency, including employees and private contractors.

The statement said hackers also penetrated payment systems at post offices and online where customers pay for services. The agency was working with the FBI and other law enforcement in an investigation. And last month, the White House reported an intrusion in its unclassified computer network.

In the course of addressing the breach, some White House users were temporarily disconnected from the network, an official said, but the computers and systems were not damaged. The Washington Post quoted sources as saying hackers believed to be working for the Russian government were believed to be responsible.