FOLLOW US

The United States Treasury Department and an agency that decides on internet and telecommunications policies were hit by hackers backed by a foreign government.

No word was given as to who the foreign government was that backed the hackers but the government says it is aware and taking steps, Reuters reported.

"The United States government is aware of these reports and we are taking all necessary steps to identify and remedy any possible issues related to this situation," John Ullyot, a National Security Council spokesman, said.

The hackers hit the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and now there is fear that they may have used the same tool to target other agencies within the government.

The hack was said to be taken so seriously that a National Security Council meeting took place at the White House on Saturday, one of the people familiar with the situation said to Reuters.

It involved the NTIA's office software, Microsoft's Office 365. The source said that the agency’s emails were monitored by the hackers for months.

The hackers were said to be "highly sophisticated" and were able to trick the Microsoft platform's authentication controls, the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.

"This is a nation state," another source who was aware of the situation said. "We just don't know which one yet."

A later story by Reuters said that the hackers are believed to be backed by Russia and that it is believed that more than the agencies mention were hit.

“This is a much bigger story than one single agency,” one person with knowledge of the situation said. “This is a huge cyber espionage campaign targeting the U.S. government and its interests.”

----------------------------------------

Have a story you want USA Herald to cover? Submit a tip here and if we think it's newsworthy, we'll follow up on it.

Want to contribute a story? We also accept article submissions – check out our writer's guidelines here.