The Chinese government has been accused of hacking into the U.S. weather system in the latest of a string of cyber-attacks being blamed on the Asian country, CBS News reported.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the National Weather Service, said Wednesday that an online source attacked four of its websites in the last few weeks.
The administration did not say who the culprit is or if any information was compromised in the attack, which according to The Washington Post took place in September.
But Virginia Representative Frank Wolf told CBS News that NOAA officials suspect China is behind it. The Republican slammed the NOAA for not disclosing the attack until weeks later and accused the Obama Administration of not doing enough to stop the threat.
"What if a major storm came and they shut down the weather service? What if they altered projections?" Wolf told CBS News. "One projection makes the difference with regards to crop failure, safety, with regards to shipping. I don't know what they are taking. But the Chinese did it for particular reasons and it wasn't because they love America."
NOAA's announcement comes two days after the U.S. Postal Service revealed a security breach where suspected Chinese hackers broke into its computer system, compromising the personal information of some 800,000 employees.
The incident also comes as President Barack Obama stressed during meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping "the importance of protecting intellectual property as well as trade secrets, especially against cyber-threats," the station reported.
In July, the Department of Homeland Security launched an investigation after hackers accessed databases storing personal information of government employees. The hackers were traced back to China.
Hackers in China are also believed to have stolen U.S. military secrets, including designs for weapons.
The NOAA said it is investigating last month's breach, according to CBS News.
