Cybersecurity firm FireEye says was hacked by nation state

FireEye offices in Milpitas, California in 2015. The cybersecurity firm said on Dec 8 that it was hacked by what it believes was a national government. — Ben Margot/AP

BOSTON: Prominent US cybersecurity firm FireEye said on Dec 8 that foreign government hackers with "world-class capabilities” broke into its network and stole offensive tools it uses to probe the defenses of its thousands of customers, who include federal, state and local governments and top global corporations.

The hackers "primarily sought information related to certain government customers,” FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia said in a statement, without naming them. He said there was no indication they got customer information from the company's consulting or breach-response businesses or threat-intelligence data it collects.