Current:Home > BackHackers sent spam emails from FBI accounts, agency confirms-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Hackers sent spam emails from FBI accounts, agency confirms
View Date:2024-12-24 00:48:12
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is acknowledging that hackers compromised its email servers and sent spam messages. But the bureau says hackers were unable to access any personal identifiable information or other data on its network.
The fake emails appeared to be from a legitimate FBI email address ending in @ic.fbi.gov, the FBI said in a statement on Saturday. The hardware impacted by the incident "was taken offline quickly upon discovery of the issue," the FBI said.
In an update issued on Sunday, the bureau said that a "software misconfiguration" allowed an actor to leverage an FBI system known as the Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal, or LEEP, to send the fake emails. The system is ordinarily used to by the agency to communicate with state and local law enforcement partners.
"No actor was able to access or compromise any data or PII [personal identifiable information] on the FBI's network," the bureau said. "Once we learned of the incident, we quickly remediated the software vulnerability, warned partners to disregard the fake emails, and confirmed the integrity of our networks."
The spam emails went to 100,000 people, according to NBC News, and warned recipients of a cyberattack on their systems. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security routinely send legitimate emails to companies and others to warn them about cyber threats. This is the first known instance of hackers using that same system to send spam messages to a large group of people, NBC reports.
The Spamhaus Project, a threat-tracking organization, posted on Twitter what it said was a copy of one such email. It showed a subject line of "Urgent: Threat actor in systems" and appeared to end with a sign-off from the Department of Homeland Security.
Both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are aware of the incident, the FBI said Saturday.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Firefighters make progress, but Southern California wildfire rages on
- RHOC's John Janssen Brutally Shades Ex Shannon Beador While Gushing Over Alexis Bellino Romance
- 4 Suspects Arrested and Charged With Murder in Shooting Death of Rapper Julio Foolio
- Here's where the economy stands as the Fed makes its interest rate decision this week
- Golden Bachelorette: Joan Vassos Gets Engaged During Season Finale
- RHOC's John Janssen Brutally Shades Ex Shannon Beador While Gushing Over Alexis Bellino Romance
- Megan Thee Stallion set to appear at Kamala Harris Atlanta campaign rally
- One Extraordinary Olympic Photo: David J. Phillip captures swimming from the bottom of the pool
- UConn, Kansas State among five women's college basketball games to watch this weekend
- 2 youth detention center escapees are captured in Maine, Massachusetts
Ranking
- MLS Star Marco Angulo Dead at 22 One Month After Car Crash
- Georgia’s largest school district won’t teach Black studies course without state approval
- Lawsuit against North Carolina officer who shot and killed teen can continue, court says
- American BMX rider Perris Benegas surges to take silver in Paris
- Tuskegee University closes its campus to the public, fires security chief after shooting
- Georgia election board rolls back some actions after a lawsuit claimed its meeting was illegal
- Snoop Dogg's winning NBC Olympics commentary is pure gold
- Mega Millions winning numbers for July 30 drawing: Jackpot climbs to $331 million
Recommendation
-
The Office's Kate Flannery Defends John Krasinski's Sexiest Man Alive Win
-
French police investigating abuse targeting Olympic opening ceremony DJ over ‘Last Supper’ tableau
-
'Tortillas save lives': Watch Texas family save orphaned baby bird named Taquito
-
North Carolina governor says Harris ‘has a lot of great options’ for running mate
-
After years of unrest, Commanders have reinvented their culture and shattered expectations
-
Delta CEO says airline is facing $500 million in costs from global tech outage
-
2024 Olympics: Simone Biles Reveals USA Gymnastics’ Real Team Name After NSFW Answer
-
US suspends $95 million in aid to Georgia after passage of foreign agent law that sparked protests