State Department Hopes to Have Email Restored by Monday Night

iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The State Department hopes to have its computer network back up by sometime Monday.

“We hope to have our email up and running by the end of tonight,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Monday.

The department shut down large parts of its unclassified email system last Friday in a final attempt to rid it of malware believed to have been inserted by Russian hackers in what has become one of the most serious cyber intrusions in the department’s history, U.S. officials told ABC News.

Last November, the State Department conducted similar repairs to its system stemming from a cyber-attack it suffered the month before. The attack targeted the unclassified email system and is believed to have been executed by Russian hackers.

“It was about further enhancing our security capabilities. So we obviously did — took steps in November. These were further steps to do — to follow up on that,” Psaki said of the latest repairs.

Officials stress that throughout this process, including the attack in October, there was never any compromise to the department’s classified systems.

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