US agencies hacked in monthslong global cyberspying campaign

The US Treasury Department building viewed from the Washington Monument, in Washington. Hackers got into computers at the US Treasury Department and possibly other federal agencies, touching off a government response involving the National Security Council. — AP

WASHINGTON: US government agencies were ordered to scour their networks for malware and disconnect potentially compromised servers after authorities learned that the Treasury and Commerce departments were hacked in a monthslong global cyberespionage campaign discovered when a prominent cybersecurity firm learned it had been breached.

In a rare emergency directive issued late Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity arm warned of an “unacceptable risk” to the executive branch from a feared large-scale penetration of US government agencies that could date back to mid-year or earlier.