A recent cyber-attack on the State Department was reportedly carried out by high-level Russia hackers who also penetrated restricted parts of the White House computer system , such as the president 's private schedule . CNN reported Tuesday , citing US officials briefed on the months-long investigation conducted by the FBI and Secret Service , that the hackers were able to access real-time , non-public schedule of President Obama , which is regarded as highly sensitive information that is sought after by foreign intelligence agencies . In October 2014 , the White House acknowledged that there had been suspicious activity on its unclassified network serving the executive office , prompting system shutdowns and security upgrades . Vulnerable : A new report has revealed that Russian hackers launched a cyber-attack against White House 's unclassified computer network last year . Privacy concerns : The hackers reportedly accessed President Obama 's non-public schedule , which is considered highly sensitive information . Sneak attack : According to federal officials involved in the probe , the hackers wormed their way into the White House system by breaching first the State Department 's network . A six-month investigation into the breach , described as one of the most sophisticated attacks against the US , reportedly uncovered evidence pointing to hackers working on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin 's government . According to federal officials involved in the probe , the hackers wormed their way into the White House system by breaching first the State Department 's network . To accomplish this task , the cyber-bandits allegedly working for the Kremlin commandeered a State Department email account and sent a phishing email to someone at the White House designed to trick the recipient into downloading malicious software . Silver lining : White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said last year 's cyber intrusions that did not affect classified information . Once downloaded onto a White House computer , the malware presumably allowed the hackers to penetrate the unclassified network containing Obama 's schedule that is not accessible to the general public . According to an anonymous government official , the hackers have been able to re-enter the State Department computer system , despite efforts to keep them out . The Russian Embassy did not publicly comment on the hacking allegations . The White House responded to CNN ’ s revelations by saying the report did not refer to a new incident but was ‘ speculating ’ about the source of cyber activities that were disclosed last year . Spokesman Mark Stroh said in a statement that the White House would not comment on CNN 's attribution of the cyber-attack to Russian hackers . ‘ Any such activity is something we take very seriously . In this case , as we made clear at the time , we took immediate measures to evaluate and mitigate the activity , ’ Stroh stated . ‘ As has been our position , we are not going to comment on the referenced article 's attribution to specific actors. ’ White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said in an appearance on CNN Tuesday that the White House in 2014 disclosed cyber intrusions that did not affect classified information . ‘ We have an unclassified system and then we have a classified system , a top secret system , ’ Rhodes said . ‘ We do not believe that our classified systems were compromised. ’ But he said , ‘ There 's always vulnerability. ’ For that reason , Rhodes said the White House operates a separate , secure system for classified data . He assured the public that the White House takes regular actions to prevent intrusions on its unclassified network .
Hackers reportedly wormed their way into the White House system by breaching the State Department 's network first . Cyber-bandits took over a State Department email account and sent phishing email containing malware to White House . The hackers then used that access to gain access to sensitive information on computers at the Pentagon, CIA, National Security Agency and other agencies.