Bureau of Meteorology in Australia was hacked by foreign spies

It is "likely" state-sponsored hackers successfully stole information from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), authorities confirmed Wednesday.

A report by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) disclosed new details about an incident in 2015 involving Australia's government weather service.

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In 2015, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) detected "suspicious activity" on two computers within the Bureau's network — an incident that was first reported by the ABC.

In the report, the ASD associated the tools used by the hackers with state-sponsored attacks. 

"On investigation, ASD identified the presence of particular Remote Access Tool (RAT) malware popular with state-sponsored cyber adversaries, amongst other malware associated with cybercrime," the report explains. "The RAT had also been used to compromise other Australian government networks."

The hackers were able to make off with an "unknown quantity of documents."

Since the infiltration was discovered, and apparently dealt with, the hackers have made further attempts to regain access to government networks.

When reports emerged about the hack in Dec. 2015, a source told the ABC China was to blame — an accusation that country called "groundless."

Dan Tehan, the minister responsible for cybersecurity, wouldn't which countries are targeting Australia's computer systems on ABC radio Wednesday.

"I'm not going to name names," he said. "I think we can say very clearly that cyber espionage is alive and well."

The BoM is not the only global weather service to be targeted by hackers. In 2014, reports emerged that the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including the National Weather Service, had also been targeted by China. 

While NOAA confirmed it had been hit by "an internet-sourced attack," China denied the charge.

The BoM is not the only Australian government target. The ACSC said 1,095 cyber security incidents targeting government systems had warranted a response between Jan. 1 2015 and June 30 2016.