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A cyber attacker appears to have breached the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) network.
According to CNN (opens in new tab)citing two sources briefed on the matter, the hitherto unknown threat actor broke into a New York Field Office computer system, which is used by the FBI to investigate cases of child sexual exploitation.
“The FBI is aware of the incident and is working on additional information,” the US law enforcement agency said in a statement to the media. “This is an isolated incident that has been contained. As this is an ongoing investigation, the FBI has no further comment at this time.”
No details
This isn’t the first time the FBI has had to deal with a cyberattack on its own network. In late 2021, an attacker managed to compromise the agency’s email (opens in new tab) inbox and send spam messages.
At the time, Beeping computer (opens in new tab) noted that “tens of thousands” of spam messages were being sent in waves eims@ic.fbi.govand that the messages reached at least 100,000 mailboxes.
However, it noted the suggestion from SpamHaus, a non-profit organization that tracks spam, that these numbers were rather conservative and that the reach was “potentially much, much wider.”
As a government agency, the FBI faces a constant barrage of cyberattacks. Government organizations are now among the most targeted companies in the world, along with telecom companies, healthcare organizations and the education and learning industry.
Threats can attack these organizations with spam emails with malware attachments or phishing links where victims reveal their credentials and other sensitive information that can be used in the second stage of the attack.
Through: Beeping computer (opens in new tab)