Census Bureau computer servers target of January 2020 cyberattack

U.S. Census Bureau computer servers were targeted during a cyberattack last year, but the hackers’ attempts to retain access to the system were unsuccessful, according to a watchdog report released Wednesday.  

The cyberattack occurred in January 2020 and did not involve the 2020 census, The Associated Press reported. 

According to the Office of Inspector General, the Census Bureau did not take steps to limit its online system’s vulnerability prior to the attack and did not discover what happened in a timely fashion, the AP noted.

The bureau’s firewalls prohibited the hackers from maintaining access to the system, but they were still able to make changes, like creating user accounts, while they had access, the watchdog report said. A probe also found the agency did not keep proper system logs, which hindered the investigation into the hack, according to the report.

Acting Census Bureau Director Ron Jarmin emphasized in a statement to the AP that none of the information related to the 2020 census was altered during the cyberattack. 

“Furthermore, no systems or data maintained and managed by the Census Bureau on behalf of the public were compromised, manipulated or lost,” Jarmin wrote.

The Census Bureau is the latest government agency to experience a notable cyberattack since the Pentagon and State Department were hacked as part of an espionage attack last year.