The FBI is investigating a breach into unclassified but significant networks that may have granted access to information about ongoing investigations and persons of interest. File Photo by Sascha Steinbach/EPA
March 6 (UPI) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating what it calls a “suspicious” breach of networks containing information of ongoing investigations, though details of them have not been revealed.
The cybersecurity incident on a network used for wiretaps and intelligence surveillance warrants was confirmed Thursday by CBS News, CNN and Politico.
Investigators declined to offer more information on who was behind the breach or what may have been accessed during what the FBI called “abnormal log information” in mid-February.
The Bureau alerted Congress about the breach this week.
“The FBI identified and addressed suspicious activities on FBI networks and we have leveraged all technical capabilities to respond,” the bureau said.
The FBI, in its alert to Congress, said that the breach included efforts at “leveraging a commercial Internet Service Provider vendor’s infrastructure” in order to access the bureau’s networks.
The White House, FBI, National Security Agency and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency are investigating the breach, noting to lawmakers that the system accessed in the hack contains information on targets of law enforcement investigations and it appears to have been “sophisticated.”
There have been reports that China is allegedly behind the breach, however a request for comment from UPI on Friday night about the reports had not been responded to by publication time.
“The affected system is unclassified and contains law enforcement sensitive information, including returns from legal process, such as pen register and trap and surveillance service returns, and personally identifiable information pertaining to subjects of FBI investigations,” the notice to Congress reportedly reads.
The breach has been compared to the 2024 Salt Typhoon breach that nabbed communications records for millions of people in the United States, including those of top level federal officials.
Salt Typhoon, a Chinese hacking group that is believed to be sponsored by China’s government, that year accessed a wide range of U.S. communications companies and U.S. government systems.
