The FBI has released an official memo indicating that hackers related to Anonymous have been accessing federal government computers in various agencies for almost a year and stealing data.
Reuters viewed a copy of the memo, which was sent around the FBI on Thursday. The attacks came as the result of an exploit in Adobe software that allowed Anonymous hackers to plant backdoors in the computers they had infiltrated and then return at their leisure, apparently as recently as last month.
Reuters reports:
The memo, distributed on Thursday, described the attacks as “a widespread problem that should be addressed.” It said the breach affected the U.S. Army, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and perhaps many more agencies.
Stolen data from the attacks includes information about government employees and their family members. The hackers also stole banking data. Reuters reports that the attacks have been connected to Lauri Love, a British hacker who was indicted in October for alleged hacking into US government agencies.
Reuters reports that an FBI spokeswoman “declined to elaborate” on the situation. Naturally. [Reuters]