Suspicious Activity Detected On White House Computer Network

Reuters | By Steve Holland

Posted: 10/28/2014 6:58 pm EDT Updated: 10/28/2014 6:59 pm EDT

A US Secret Service Uniformed Division officer and his K-9 dog patrol the fence line of the White House in Washington, DC, October 23, 2014. A suspect who climbed over the White House fence on October 22 was nabbed by Secret Service agents and dogs, a spokesman for the elite agency said. 'At approximately 7:16 pm (1116 GMT), an individual climbed the north fence line of the White House,' the spokesman said. 'The individual was immediately taken into custody on the north lawn of the White House | JIM WATSON via Getty Images

WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Suspicious cyber activity has been detected on the computer network used by the White House and measures have been taken to address it, a White House official disclosed on Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not say who might have been responsible for the activity on what was described as an unclassified computer network used by employees of the Executive Office of the President.

"In the course of assessing recent threats we identified activity of concern on the unclassified EOP network. Any such activity is something that we take very seriously. In this case we took immediate measures to evaluate and mitigate the activity," the official said.

It was unclear when the activity took place. The official said the technical measures to address the activity had led to limited access to some EOP network services. Some of the issues have been resolved, but the work continues.

"Our actions are ongoing and some of our actions have resulted in temporary outages and loss of connectivity for some EOP users," the official said.

A second administration official said there were no indications at this time that classified networks had been affected.

The White House, like many government entities in Washington, frequently faces cyber threats. (Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney)

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