EU probes hack of 'thousands' of diplomatic cables

EU probes hack of 'thousands' of diplomatic cables

BRUSSELS, DEC 20 -  The EU announced an urgent investigation on Wednesday after suspected hackers accessed thousands of sensitive diplomatic cables.

some of the cables, which are from European Union diplomatic missions around the world and reveal anxiety about how to handle US President Donald Trump as well as concerns about the behaviour of China, Russia and Iran.

The breach recalls the publication by Wikileaks of a vast haul of US State Department cables in 2010, though in the EU case the trove is much smaller and consists of less secret communications.

Area 1, which was able to see the documents, said the attack targeted the EU, the United Nations and the AFL-CIO labour union in the US.

EU probes hack of 'thousands' of diplomatic cables

EU officials said they have begun a probe into the leak, which comes with Europe on high alert for malign online activity in the run-up to key parliamentary elections in May next year.

"The Council Secretariat is aware of allegations regarding a potential leak of sensitive information and is actively investigating the issue," the EU Council, which represents member states, said.

"The Council Secretariat does not comment on allegations nor on matters relating to operational security. 

The Council Secretariat takes the security of its facilities, including its IT systems, extremely seriously."

European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said the bloc took any report of hacking its systems "extremely seriously" but refused to comment on the detail of the leak.

"What is clear is that no institution or country is immune to these kinds of hacks -- all communications systems have vulnerabilities," he told reporters.

"We´re constantly dealing with this challenge, upgrading our communication systems to respond to the threats."

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