The State Department on Thursday warned employees about a tidal wave of malicious messages attempting to trick staffers into opening a door for hackers, Politico reports.
“Personnel are advised to be alert for suspicious activity related to ongoing cyber operations targeting the Department,” the agency’s Cyber and Technology Security Directorate said in an email sent early Thursday morning to all workers.
Last month, more than 2,000 employees received emails, texts and social media messages designed to fool them into either downloading malware or handing over their login information, according to the email, which multiple sources provided to POLITICO.
The warning encouraged employees to report the malicious messages to help cyber experts “understand the broadened scope of cyber targeting against the Department.”
Hackers have used subject lines that mention a political science conference and a technology conference to entice victims into clicking links or downloading infected attachments, according to the State Department message. Other subject lines reference stock market secrets.