US State Department email system down following cyberattack

A senior department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Sunday that the department shut down its worldwide email late on Friday to make security improvements to its main unclassified computer network, the Associated Press reported.
 
According to the official, “activity of concernâ€‌ was detected in the email system at the same time that a previously reported incident targeted the White House computer network in late October.
 
Since then, some agencies, including the US Postal Service and the National Weather Service have reported similar attacks.
 
However, there was no indication that the State Department had been affected, said the official.
 
The unnamed official added that the department’s systems are expected to operate as normal in the near future, without discussing who might be responsible for the breach.
 
The department will address the shutdown once the security improvements have been completed in the next days.