The breach was discovered by a cybersecurity company Resecurity, according to which the initial intrusion to the UN networks took place as early as 5 April and the hackers were still present in the system as of 7 August, the report said.
"The actor conducted the intrusion with the goal of compromising large numbers of users within the UN network for further long-term intelligence gathering", Resecurity Chief Executive Officer Gene Yoo said as cited by the report.
UN officials informed Resecurity that the hackers’ aim was reconnaissance and stopped communicating with the cyber security firm after it provided proof that the attack also resulted in stolen data, the report said.
During the latest breach, the hackers tried to collect information about the architecture of the UN computer networks and to compromise 53 UN accounts, according to Resecurity.
The purported hacking took place amid an increased number of ransomware attacks against US-based companies, including Colonial Pipeline, Kaseya and others.