The FBI and other federal agencies are investigating, the agency said in a statement.

Postal Service spokesman David Partenheimer said the personal information that may have been obtained in
the attack includes employees’ names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, emergency
contacts and other information.

However, he also said that customers at local post offices or those using its website, usps.com, were not
affected. But people who used its call center may have had telephone numbers, email addresses and other
information compromised. He said that the attacks happened in mid-September. Just when the breach
occurred is under investigation, he said.

The agency isn’t recommending that those customers take any action.

The Postal Service provided no immediate information on how many people may have been affected. It
employs over 800,000 workers.

"The intrusion is limited in scope and all operations of the Postal Service are functioning
normally," Partenheimer said.

"It is an unfortunate fact of life these days that every organization connected to the Internet is a
constant target for cyber intrusion activity," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a
statement. "The United States Postal Service is no different."

"Fortunately, we have seen no evidence of malicious use of the compromised data and we are taking
steps to help our employees protect against any potential misuse of their data."

Partenheimer said the attacks affected Postal Service workers across the board, from the postmaster
general to letter carriers to those who work in the inspector general’s office.

Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee, said the panel had received two classified briefings on the attacks.

"The increased frequency and sophistication of cyber-attacks upon both public and private entities
highlights the need for greater collaboration to improve data security," he wrote in a letter to
Donahoe.

FBI spokesman Joshua Campbell confirmed the investigation

And while declining to discuss details of what he called "an ongoing investigation," Campbell
said the FBI was working with the Postal Service "to determine the nature and scope of this
incident."

"Impacted individuals should take steps to monitor and safeguard their personally identifiable
information and report any suspected instances of identity theft to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint
Center at www.ic3.gov , " he said.

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