The White House acknowledged that hackers believed to have ties to a Russian intelligence agency breached email systems used by federal agencies, including the departments of the Treasury and Commerce, The New York Times reported Sunday.
Several officials said threat actors also targeted agencies related to national security but it was not clear whether the breached networks contained highly classified data.
“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,” John Ullyot, a spokesman for the National Security Council (NSC), said in a statement.
Reports of the cyber attack came days after the National Security Agency (NSA) released an advisory that Russian state-sponsored cyber actors were exploiting a vulnerability in a platform widely used in the government.