Foreign hackers breach US Treasury Department using Microsoft Office 365 flaws

The U.S. Treasury Department and another government agency have been breached by hackers working for a foreign government, stealing unknown data in what may be an embarrassing security issue for the U.S. government.

A breach was alleged to have taken place, affecting both the U.S. Treasury Department and the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency that works on policy relating to the Internet and telecommunications. While details of the attack are unknown, it is thought to be serious enough to have forced a meeting of the National Security Council on Saturday.Sources of Reuters advised of the attack, which was conducted by a sophisticated group who were backed by an unnamed foreign government. Similar tools used in the attack were previously employed to gain access to other government agencies, the sources claimed.

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