US State Department computers hacked

November 17th, 2014 (VOA) The U.S. State Department has taken the unprecedented step of shutting down its entire unclassified email system, in the wake of a suspected hacker attack.

Technicians are repairing possible damage from an attack that occurred at about the same time as another one on the White House computer network, reported last month.

Since the White House email attack, several government agencies, including the U.S. Postal Service and the National Weather Service, have reported attacks. Chinese or Russian hackers have been blamed for the earlier attacks, but this has not been publicly confirmed.

The State Department is expected to address the shutdown once the security improvements have been completed on Monday or Tuesday.