The U.S Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed Thursday that a group of activist hackers dubbed as "Anonymous" was able to get into the government computers that hold highly-sensitive and confidential information.
According to Reuters, the hacking incident began December 2012 when the group used a security flaw in Adobe Systems Inc. software to create "back doors"--a program that allow users to bypass security mechanisms-- which they can use to access the computer files repeatedly.
The FBI issued a memo revealing the affected federal agencies including U.S. Army, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, and more. The investigators admitted that the Anonymous group still has access on the computers. However, they are already working with the system admins of the agencies in monitoring and identifying the systems which may have been compromised. They are not yet certain of the type of information the hackers are accessing and what they intend to do with it.
While the FBI spokesperson wouldn't elaborate, Department of Energy chief of staff Kevin Knobloch shared in an email dated Oct. 11 that the government computers store personal information of over 104,000 employees and 2,000 bank accounts from their department alone. These hackers getting hold of to bank details could lead to financial loss which made them "very concerned."
The investigators are also studying if the Anonymous hackers are related to the British resident Lauri Love who got arrested by a joint operation of the U.S and U.K officials. The 28-year-old resident allegedly hacked the government computers and stole military data and personal identifying information belonging to servicemen and women. He also used a back door in Adobe ColdFusion application server.
Adobe spokeswoman Heather Edell declined to comment about the security flaw involving their software as she is not familiar with the FBI report.
