The US State Department is recovering from large-scale computer break-ins worldwide over the past several weeks that appeared to target its headquarters and offices dealing with China and North Korea, reporters have learned.
Investigators believe hackers stole sensitive US information and passwords and implanted backdoors in unclassified government computers to allow them to return at will, said US officials familiar with the hacking episode. These people spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the widespread intrusions and the resulting investigation.
The break-ins and the department's emergency response severely limited Internet access at many locations, including some headquarters offices in Washington, these officials said. Internet connections have been restored across nearly all the department since the break-ins were detected in mid-June.
"The department did detect anomalies in network traffic, and we thought it prudent to ensure out system's integrity," department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said.
Asked what information was stolen, Cooper said, "Because the investigation is continuing, I don't think we even know."
Tracing the origin of such break-ins is difficult. But employees said the hackers appeared to hit computers especially hard at headquarters and inside the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, which coordinates diplomacy in countries including China, the Koreas and Japan.
China's government was considered by experts a chief suspect in computer break-ins at the Defense Department and other US agencies disclosed last summer. But China also is home to a large number of insecure computers and networks that hackers in other countries could use to disguise their locations and launch attacks.
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