Sophisticated hackers infiltrated and hacked United Nations networks in Geneva and Vienna last year in an apparent espionage operation that top officials at the world body kept largely quiet. The hackers' identity and the extent of the data they obtained are not known.
Hackers broke into dozens of UN servers starting in July 2019.
A senior UN IT official called the incident a “major meltdown”.
Staff records, health insurance, and commercial contract data were compromised.
Staff were asked to change their passwords but not told about the breach.
Under diplomatic immunity, the UN is not obliged to divulge what was obtained by the hackers or notify those affected.
The attack might have been avoided with a simple patch to fix a software bug.
Systems in Geneva and Vienna used by thousands of staff were compromised.
A UN spokesperson says the attack triggered a rebuild of multiple systems.
UN officials warned of major vulnerabilities years ago.