Large-Scale Hacking Discovered at State Department

According to the Associated Press, investigators at the State Department believe that hackers have stolen sensitive United States information and passwords by hacking into government computer systems all over the world. The hackers appeared to target the State Department headquarters and offices connected to North Korea and China. The large-scale hacking operation also implanted backdoors into unclassified government computers so that the hackers could re-enter the systems whenever they wanted to.

The widespread intrusions and the emergency response of the State Department when the hacking was discovered resulted in Internet access being severely limited at many locations around the world, including some government offices in Washington. However, the Internet connections across nearly all of the department have been restored since the break-ins were discovered in the middle of June.

Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper told reporters, "The department did detect anomalies in network traffic, and we thought it prudent to ensure our system’s integrity." Cooper declined to comment on what information was stolen, saying only, "Because the investigation is continuing, I don’t think we even know."

Earlier this year the Pentagon warned that China’s military considers computer hacking to be an offensive weapon. The warning mentioned Chinese military exercises in 2005 that referred to hacking "primarily in first strikes against enemy networks." China’s government was suspected to be behind computer break-ins at several U.S. agencies including the Defense Department last year. But the allegations could not be proven indisputably because China has a large number of insecure computers and networks that hackers in other countries might be able to tap into, if they wanted to camouflage their whereabouts.

State Department employees told the Associated Press that the break-ins appeared to be especially severe at the headquarters of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. This office is responsible for coordinating diplomatic efforts in Asian countries including China, Japan, North Korea, and South Korea. In the weeks prior to North Korea’s missile tests, when the global community was dealing with particularly high tensions, the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs lost its Internet connection for several days.

Many employees were told to change their passwords once the State Department hacking was discovered. The secure sockets layer used to send encrypted information over the Internet was also disabled temporarily. Many diplomats and government officials were unable to access online financial information using government computers because most banks and financial institutions require security technology to be in place before accounts can be accessed. The State Department has corrected that problem, but the investigation continues into the source of the break-ins and the extent of the damage.