Energy Department Victim Of Sophisticated Cyber Attack

The Energy Department was the victim of a sophisticated cyber attack two weeks ago, the agency confirmed in an email sent to employees Friday evening.

The agency said that hackers penetrated computers and servers at the agency’s Washington headquarters and stole the personal information of hundreds of employees and contractors.

No classified information was compromised in the cyber attack, said officials who provided details of the attack to the Washington Free Beacon on condition of anonymity

Chinese hackers are likely suspects because the department is known to be a major target of China, however the source of the cyber attacker is not known, according to U.S. officials and outside security analysts.   Also, the relative sophistication of the cyber attack is an indication of nation-state involvement, the DOE said.

A total of 14 computer servers and 20 workstations at the headquarters were penetrated during the attack.  The personal data compromised involves information related to several hundred people, the officials said.

The department is currently in the process of notifying the employees and contractors whose information was stolen.

Last week, New York Times and Wall Street Journal disclosed that they were hacked by Chinese Hackers and recently 250,000 Twitter accounts were also compromised in similar sophisticated cyber attack.