Concern for hacking prompted an information technology team of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday to block fellow lawmakers from accessing software apps residing on a Google cloud service, according to Reuters.
Once an FBI alert came into Congress earlier this month regarding a remote access trojan dubbed BLT, various devices linking up to the House's internet via Wi-Fi or ethernet cables were forbidden to access appspot.com, a domain hosting Google's custom-built apps.
The action follows after the House Information Security Office advised lawmakers and staffers of a spike in phishing attacks on the House network via third-party, web-based mail apps, including Yahoo Mail and Gmail. The fear was that ransomware could be loaded onto users' computers. Use of Yahoo Mail was blocked.
Google and Yahoo representatives each said their companies were looking into the situation and would work with the House to resolve issues.
