Report: State Dept. email down after cyberattack

The State Department has shut down its email system after a suspected attack by hackers, The Associated Press reported on Sunday.

An unidentified official told the news service that “activity of concern” was detected in the unclassified system around the same time as an incident that targeted White House computers.

A White House official in October confirmed that suspicious activity had been detected on the White House’s computer network and measures had been taken to address the issue.

The State Department official, who told the AP that no classified systems were affected, said the department expects its systems to be operating normally in the near future.

Security improvements are expected to be finished on Monday or Tuesday, the official added.

Earlier this month, The Washington Post reported that Chinese hackers breached National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather tracking and prediction systems in September, causing officials to cut off access to the data.

The U.S. Postal Service also revealed last week that a cyberattack had exposed the information of 800,000 employees.