Foreign-backed hackers break in to the US treasury

Hackers have broken in to the US treasury

A sophisticated hacking group backed by a foreign government stole information from the US treasury department and a US agency responsible for deciding policy around the internet and telecommunications, Reuters reported on Sunday.

The National Security Council summoned an emergency meeting at the White House on Saturday to discuss the hack, Reuters said.

John Ullyot, spokesman for the National Security Council, said: “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.”

It was unclear who was behind the attack, and what information, if any, was accessed.

There is concern within the US intelligence community that the hackers who targeted the treasury and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration — part of the commerce department — used a similar tool to break into other government agencies, according to three people briefed on the matter.

Steve Mnuchin is currently in charge of the US treasury

The report comes after one of the world’s largest cyber-security firm, FireEye, announced that they had been hacked in an attack suspected to have come from Russia.

Kevin Mandia, FireEye’s chief executive, revealed in a blog post on Tuesday that hackers in the "state-sponsored attack" accessed internal systems and sought information about clients in the government sector. 

The hackers compromised FireEye’s "Red Team tools," which the company uses to test the defence mechanisms of its clients.

“I’ve concluded we are witnessing an attack by a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities,” wrote Mr Mandia.