The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association confirmed four of the agency’s websites were compromised by an Internet-sourced attack “in recent weeks.”
“NOAA staff detected the attacks and incident response began immediately,” said Scott Smullen, deputy director of the agency’s communications and external affairs office, in a statement. “Unscheduled maintenance was performed by NOAA to mitigate the attacks.”
Impact from the maintenance was temporary and “all services have been fully restored,” he said. An “investigation is continuing with the appropriate authorities and we cannot comment further.”
Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) has said the agency confirmed to him, however, that China was behind the attack, according to a Washington Post report.
NOAA, home to the National Weather Service, Satellites and Information, Fisheries and Ocean Service, supports “economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product.”
