Breach at US-based cybersecurity provider F5 blamed on China, Bloomberg News reports

(Reuters) -A breach at U.S.-based cybersecurity company F5 has been blamed on state-backed hackers from China, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. F5, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Earlier in the day, U.S. government officials said federal networks are being targeted by an unidentified "nation-state cyber threat actor" that's trying to exploit vulnerabilities in products made by F5. F5 said it had detected unauthorized access to certain company systems by a threat actor, but the breach had no impact on its operations. Representatives for F5 have told customers that the hackers were in the company's network for at least 12 months, according to the Bloomberg News report. The report added F5 Chief Executive Officer Francois Locoh-Donou is personally briefing customers about the timeline and the China-linked hackers. (Reporting by Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Rashmi Aich)

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