State Department can’t kick out hackers

Hackers are still inside the State Department’s networks, three months after the agency confirmed a breach of its unclassified email system, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The State Department in November took its email system offline for a few days after discovering a breach. Officials said the incident was connected to a breach of the White House’s unclassified network. Russian hackers were suspected in both incidents.

{mosads}But months after the department said its email system was back up and running with extra security measures, hackers are apparently still roaming around. Additionally, every time investigators block one of the cyberattackers’ intrusion methods, they alter it and try to slip past the agency’s defenses again.

As a result, it’s not clear what type of data, and how much of it, the digital invaders have made off with.

“We deal successfully with thousands of attacks every day,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told the Journal in a statement. “We take any possible cyber intrusion very serious — as we did with the one we discussed several months ago — and we deal with them in conjunction with other relevant government agencies.”

Exactly which portions of the State Department network are still infiltrated is unclear. The department continues to take portions of its network, such as remote email access, offline in attempts to eradicate the cyber crooks.

Russian hackers are seen as one of the most consistent threat to U.S. networks.

Not only are they thought to be behind the State Department and White House breaches, reports show Russians have infiltrated most of the U.S. critical infrastructure. It’s believed Russians have planted malware that could allow them to attack anything from gas pipelines to wind turbines to power plants.

The government has yet to confirm this, though. At a December hearing, National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers acknowledged that China and “one or two” other countries are sitting on U.S. networks. The other countries are likely Russia and Iran.