US State Department email system 'hacked'

The US State Department's outside unclassified email system has reopened after a shutdown due to hacking, a spokesman says.

"We've had some ... progress since (Monday's) discussion," said a State Department spokesman, Jeff Rathke.

"Much of our system that had connectivity to the internet are now operational."

The department took its email systems offline over the weekend in order to upgrade security, and the press office was forced to communicate with reporters through a Gmail address.

The internal classified system was not compromised, but it is not yet reconnected to the internet, Rathke said.

The hacking was uncovered several weeks ago at the same time as suspicious activity occurred on the unclassified White House computer network, Rathke said.