Commerce Department agency’s network may have been hacked

A virus has attacked the computer network of a job-development agency in the Commerce Department, forcing it to block employees from the Internet for nine days. The attack, discovered two weeks ago, targeted computers at the Economic Development Administration, which is responsible for making business-development grants to distressed communities to help them create jobs. Commerce Department officials said they have brought in a team of outside experts to help the agency’s security team restore the networks. But they do not know where the attack came from and how it penetrated government computers, officials said. Cyber-security experts said it is likely that hackers infiltrated the system.