State Department Shuts Down Unclassified Email System Over Hacker Attack

The U.S. State Department disabled its entire unclassified email system on Friday in the face of a cyberattack, a senior official said.

Technicians are working to repair the potential damage caused to the system by hackers and the State Department is expected to address the closure early this week once those repairs are made, the Associated Press reports.

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The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said unusual activity was first detected in the system in October, around the same time hackers targeted the White House computer network. The U.S. Postal Service and the National Weather Service are among the agencies that have since reported similar attacks.

The department’s classified systems remained unaffected, and the unclassified email is expected to be operational again by Monday or Tuesday.

[AP]

Write to Rishi Iyengar at rishi.iyengar@timeasia.com.