MOSCOW, August 23 (RIA Novosti) - Data security of at least 25,000 government employees in the United States was compromised after a cyber attack on the United States Investigation Services (USIS), which is in charge of checking personal data of the Department of Homeland Security employees, Reuters reported early Saturday, citing a representative of the office.
The information about the attack was disclosed at the beginning of the month. As reported, it forced the Department of Homeland Security to suspend cooperation with USIS. There are indications that the attack was sponsored by a foreign state.
A ministry spokesman said that the employees, whose data could be stolen, would be notified in the coming days. "More could be notified in coming weeks as we learn more about the breach," an unnamed source told the agency.
Earlier this month, the New York Times, citing its sources, reported that Chinese hackers had broken into the US state institutions’ networks in March, compromising the data on tens of thousands of employees. Before that, the US cyber defense company Crowdstrike accused the Chinese military in the conduct of hacker attacks, the aim of which had been to penetrate the satellite and aerospace programs of the United States.
The United States has repeatedly called China and Russia countries bearing the main cyber threat. China, in turn, has repeatedly denied any involvement in any form of illegal activities in cyberspace and reported about the US cyber activity on the Chinese Internet.
