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You are here: News > News > Mystery Virus Baffles U.S. Marshals and FBI
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| » 22 May 2009 |
| Mystery Virus Baffles U.S. Marshals and FBI |
| Yesterday, Microsoft warned that hackers are currently sending malicious QuickTime media files to victims in order to take advantage of a security hole in Apple's media format and install malware onto Windows systems. That may or may not have anything to do with the FBI security incident this Friday. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed that it was forced to turn off its Internet-facing unclassified network while disputing a report circulating that the incident has left the bureau unable to e-mail its counterparts in other law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Initial reports of the FBI's webmail outage was published by the New York Post, although other news outlets had reported since last week that the FBI had been infected by the same virus that had shutdown the U.S. Marshals' Windows systems just recently. As of this writing, the virus's origin and type remains a mystery, but spokespeople for the two agencies stated that access to e-mail and the Internet had been turned off while the issue was being examined and assessed by their Internet security specialists. According to an anonymous source familiar with the situation, FBI agents can still send e-mail on the agency's protected internal network or through Blackberry, but many use the unclassified external network to send messages via webmail. The web-based e-mail service continued to be unavailable for some users and was down throughout the week, the source added. FBI spokesman Paul Bresson sent an email assuring that the FBI has Internet access and people can send e-mail to anyone. They also have the still-functioning, safe, and secure internal e-mail system "that connects all 400+ offices around the country and 60 offices overseas." The FBI clarified in an official statement that the "external, unclassified network" was shutdown merely as a "precautionary measure". After two days of investigating the issue and weighing in the risks, the e-mail traffic was thusly returned to the unclassified external network. The agency did not provide specific details on the security fiasco, but it can be easily conjectured that hackers may have utilized malware-encoded attachments to breach into the network. According to its official statement, the FBI is currently blocking users from receiving or sending attachments on the unclassified network to give their technicians enough time to examine and scan each and every last attachment that came into the e-mail system and ensure that they've recognized and alleviated all threats to their network. |
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