McCully's email account hacked

Photo / File

The private emails of Foreign Minister Murray McCully have reportedly been hacked and sensitive information potentially revealed.

International hackers cooperative Anonymous is said to have hacked the National MP's Telecom Xtra email account in April last year, the Dominion Post reported.

There are concerns Cabinet information and cables from foreign posts may have been obtained by the organisation, as Mr McCully had his official emails forwarded to his personal account.

However he told the Dominion Post, Cabinet papers and cable traffic were not sent to the account.

The East Coast Bays MP said he became aware of the breach after emails were sent from his account. The account has since been closed down.

Prime Minister John Key told the Dominion Post did not know what information had been accessed, but "if it was really sensitive it would be out by now".

The paper understood the breach was being investigated by Government agencies, including the Government Communications and Security Bureau.

The breach came in the wake of Anonymous' attack on the Internal Affairs website in March following the implementation of internet filtering by the department.

The group has also hacked overseas Government websites, including the United States Justice Department following the arrest of Kim Dotcom last month.

- Herald Online staff