[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Bloomberg News reported on the 13th (local time) that the external email system of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was subjected to a hacking attack.
The 'Spamhaus Project,' which tracks spam emails and cyber threats, stated that hackers sent out a large number of emails warning of cyber attacks from the FBI's email accounts to external recipients.
The FBI acknowledged the incident but said that since the situation is ongoing, it cannot provide additional information at this time.
The spam emails were sent between 12:00 AM and 2:00 AM on the same day and are estimated to have reached at least 100,000 mailboxes. The email titled "Urgent: System Threat Actor" contained content that made cybersecurity expert Vinny Troia appear to be the threat actor.
The 'Spamhaus Project' noted that no malware was attached to the email and speculated that the purpose was to damage Troia's reputation or to cause a flood of calls to the FBI.
However, the hacked email system is known to be used by FBI agents or staff when sending emails to the public.
The FBI has a separate email system that agents are required to use when transmitting classified information.
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