Russian hackers breach computer systems of US State Department, White House

Less than a week after US president Barack Obama declared cybersecurity a ''national emergency'', Russian hackers have reportedly breached the White House computer system, gaining access to potentially sensitive information.

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White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes speaks to reporters in Washington. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:30pm, 8 Apr 2015Updated: 8:36pm, 9 Apr 2015

Less than a week after US president Barack Obama declared cybersecurity a "national emergency", Russian hackers have reportedly breached the White House computer system, gaining access to potentially sensitive information.

The White House said on Tuesday that the intruders only gained access to an unclassified system.

"We do not believe that our classified systems were compromised," Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, told CNN.

"We're constantly updating our security measures on our unclassified system, but we're frankly told to act as if we need not put information that's sensitive on that system."

However, although the breached system did not contain classified data, the hackers still gained access to sensitive information. Sources told CNN that the hackers were able to gain access to real-time private details of the president's schedule.

Even worse for the government, the hackers appear to have entered the White House computer system via that of the State Department, investigators said.

“One official says the Russian hackers have ‘owned’ the State Department system for months and it is not clear the hackers have been fully eradicated from the system,” CNN reported.