FBI said to probe breach of Juniper Networks VPN software

Laura Mandaro | USA TODAY Network

SAN FRANCISCO—U.S. officials are investigating a recent breach of Juniper Networks software over concerns the "backdoor entry" allowed a foreign government to tap into communications of the U.S. government, news reports said.

On Thursday, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Juniper said it found unauthorized code had been inserted into its ScreenOS software, which runs its firewalls. The rogue code could potentially compromise the whole system and decrypt VPN devices, without leaving a trace of the party behind the breach.

"A skilled attacker would likely remove these entries from the local log file, thus effectively eliminating any reliable signature that the device had been compromised," it said in security update.

Juniper said it had found a second security issue that would allow an attacker monitoring VPN traffic — that is, communication made over a secured network — to decrypt the traffic.

It released patches for both security flaws, and said it hadn't discovered these vulnerabilities were exploited.

Juniper's disclosure has prompted an investigation by the FBI into whether non-U.S. governments were seeking to access the encrypted communication of U.S. government employees, reported CNN. The Department of Homeland Security is working with Juniper, reported Reuters.

A call to the FBI was not returned.

Juniper Networks makes communications equipment and software for large customers, including the U.S. government.

Both groups have been vulnerable to large-scale hacks over the past year, and the Obama administration has expressed increased concern that foreign governments are involved in some of the attacks.

A cyber breach at the Office of Personnel Management compromised background information, including Social Security information, of over 21 million people. A massive hack in late 2014 of Sony Pictures Entertainment systems, which made public almost 38 million files, including internal emails and personnel information, was blamed on the Republic of North Korea.

Follow USA TODAY tech editor Laura Mandaro @lauramandaro.