Hackers hit Treasury Department

WASHINGTON — Hackers broke into the networks of federal agencies including the Treasury and Commerce departments as U.S. government officials said Sunday that they were working to identify the scope of the breach and to fix the problem. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity arm are investigating.

The hacks were revealed just days after a major cybersecurity firm disclosed that foreign government hackers had broken into its network and stolen the company’s own hacking tools.

Many experts suspect Russia as being responsible for the attack against FireEye, a major cybersecurity player whose customers include federal, state and local governments and top global corporations.

It wasn’t clear if Russia was also responsible for the hack of the Treasury Department, which was first reported by Reuters. National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot said in a statement that the government was “taking all necessary steps to identify and remedy any possible issues related to this situation.”

The government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said separately that it has been working with other agencies “regarding recently discovered activity on government networks. CISA is providing technical assistance to affected entities as they work to identify and mitigate any potential compromises.”

President Trump last month fired the director of CISA, Chris Krebs, after Krebs vouched for the integrity of the presidential election and disputed Trump’s claims of widespread electoral fraud.