Cholesterol: The good, the bad, the unknown

Feb. 18, 2011
How well it works may be more important than your levels
By Anya Martin, MarketWatch
Source: Market Watch
DECATUR, Ga. — Two people are diagnosed with high cholesterol, one of the leading risk factors for heart disease, and follow similar therapies. One ends up with improved cholesterol levels, but the other doesn’t.

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The answer about whether either has a greater chance of heart attack or stroke may not be as simple as counting cholesterol levels in the bloodstream, at least when it comes to high-density lipoprotein, better known as HDL or the so-called “good” cholesterol, a new study indicates.

Doctors have long agreed that large levels of low-density lipoprotein — also known as LDL or “bad” cholesterol — can cause blockages in arteries, or blood clots, which can trigger a heart attack or stroke. However, greater levels of the other so-called “good” cholesterol — high-density lipoprotein or HDL — may be less important than how well your particular HDL removes the bad cholesterol from arteries and carries it back to the liver to ultimately pass out of your body.

These new findings won’t have an immediate effect on your doctor’s recommendations because no easy-to-perform clinical test for HDL efficiency is available now, but down the line, understanding more about how good, not just bad, cholesterol works can help researchers develop better treatments for heart disease, experts say.
New questions about good cholesterol

“The evidence for lowering LDL is substantial, but the evidence for raising HDL is not as convincing,” said Dr. Robert Eckel, director of the University of Colorado Hospital’s lipid clinic, which specializes in the treatment of cholesterol problems. “It’s an important study because it opens new doors and may help explain some of the discrepancies out there in terms of patient outcomes.”

In practical terms, a patient with high levels of good cholesterol may not be receiving as much protection as hoped for, but also a person with low levels that are very efficient may be better off than previously thought, said Dr. Daniel J. Rader, a cardiologist at the University of Pennsylvania who was the study’s lead researcher.

“It’s our first hint that the good cholesterol story is more complicated, that you can’t just increase the level and expect it to work properly,” said Dr. Christopher Cannon, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

In other words, when developing and testing new medications to improve HDL levels, another question needs to be asked: “What kind of good cholesterol does it produce?” he added. Cannon just completed a clinical trial last fall, which found that an experimental drug called anacetrapib upped HDL levels by 138% in six months and maintained that rise over 18 months without the negative side effects shown by other medicines in the same class.

The oral medication being developed by Merck /quotes/comstock/13*!mrk/quotes/nls/mrk (MRK 32.90, -0.20, -0.60%) also reduced LDL levels by 40% among patients also taking a statin drug, the most popular medication class for lowering bad cholesterol. Anacetrapib will now proceed to a four-year global clinical trial involving 30,000 patients, which could lead to a submission for approval by the Food and Drug Administration sometime around 2015 to 2016, Cannon said.

Currently some other FDA-approved drugs are thought to raise good cholesterol, but niacin is the only one to do so by any significant level (25%), he added. Its clinical benefit has not yet been proven, and many patients who take it experience uncomfortable side effects such as flushing and body aches, Cannon said.

A separate study found signs that HDL ability to remove bad cholesterol may be better in patients treated with anacetrapib than those who received niacin or no HDL-promoting medication.

About a third of all Americans, or 100 million, have high bad cholesterol levels, one of the top risk factors, along with high blood pressure, for heart disease, attack or stroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Two-thirds don’t have it under control.

Those numbers are sobering considering that heart disease also is the nation’s biggest killer, with 800,000 deaths annually. It’s also expensive, costing the country nearly $300 billion a year in direct medical costs alone, a number that is expected to triple in the next 20 years.

Two patients, two stories

Marci Williams didn’t worry much about being over 330 pounds, until she received the news at age 45 that she now had high LDL and blood pressure, as well as sleep apnea and Type 2 diabetes. Add in a family history of heart disease, and her cardiologist said she wouldn’t make it to 50 unless she made major lifestyle changes.

“It was a very somber moment; it was a real ‘whoa,’” said Williams, a financial analyst with a global shipping company who lives in Greensboro, NC.

She started walking and biking regularly and eating healthier and also took a statin drug and niacin.

“I turned into this uber-compliant patient who was exercising like clockwork, counting carbohydrates, and taking my medicine exactly as prescribed,” Williams said.

Within 16 months, she lost 180 pounds, and at age 49, she now has heart-healthy cholesterol levels, no sleep apnea and her diabetes under control, she added.

At age 34, Lisa Lee-Ranson also was overweight and had a family history of heart disease, but her wake-up call came when she felt a burning sensation while walking or climbing stairs. Doctors diagnosed blockages of more than 90% in two coronary arteries and soon she was undergoing double bypass surgery, she said.

Since then Ranson, who is now 47 and lives in Dunbar, W. Va., has shed 35 pounds, embraced a heart-healthy diet, and exercises three to four times by running the steps at her church or laps in its gym. She also has taken Lipitor, a statin drug; Zetia, one of a new class of LDL-lowering medications; and niacin.

However, unlike Williams, Ranson’s levels have not improved to heart-healthy levels, and while she has not had another cardiovascular incident, the numbers worry her, she said.

“I’m probably exercising more now that I have more free time and am not working full time, and it’s still not doing the job,” she said.
What’s next and how you can stay heart-healthy now

A key next research step is to understand what characteristics of HDL make it function more or less efficiently, said Rader, who plans, with his team, to explore that question next.

“A related issue is whether HDL function, like height or hair color, is genetically determined,” he added. “So the second goal is to hunt for genes in the genome in which variation determines HDL function.”

Identifying an HDL function gene can be significant for developing new drug therapies that target specific genes to improve that function, Rader said.

For now, though, anyone concerned about their heart health, especially if you have a family history of an early-onset heart attack, should continue to do the things that numerous studies have found reduce bad cholesterol levels, Eckel said.

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In other words, have your cholesterol levels tested regularly, don’t smoke, lose weight if you’re overweight, be physically active and take any drugs prescribed by your doctor to reduce your bad cholesterol, he added.

“I have to emphasize that a healthy lifestyle is the number one step to reducing your risk of heart disease,” Eckel said.

Anya Martin, based in Decatur, Ga., writes for MarketWatch.

Detroit mayor offers homes to cops for $1,000 down

CBC – Feb. 18, 2011
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is offering police officers who live outside the city vacant homes at dirt-cheap prices — with $1,000 down payments — in a bid to counter urban flight and boost public safety.

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In addition to the low down payment, the city plans to spend up to $150,000 per home to renovate them for the officers.

City officials say the situation is dire: although they don't have an exact count, vacant properties are littered across the city.

"It's one of the largest challenges we face," said Karla Henderson, a city executive in Planning and Facilities.

Henderson said the situation is so bad that officials are comparing the situation in Detroit to the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe in New Orleans, except Detroit's demise was slower.

Bing was in the Big Easy earlier in the week to compare notes with the New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu on how to revitalize their cities. Bing commented that Detroit has lost more than half its population since peaking at nearly two million in the 1950s.

And the recent political scandals involving former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick left Detroit with no one to steer the sinking ship.

"There was not a real strategy in the city of Detroit as to how we were going to combat foreclosures, how we would repopulate these areas," Henderson told CBC News. "The city just stood still."

Bing's administration is trying to move things forward one police officer at time.

Under the plan announced Feb. 7, police officers can purchase city-owned vacant homes with just $1,000 down.

"It's a fantastic deal," said Joy Santiago, a Detroit real estate broker. "Financing is always an issue right now with the economy the way it is."

Santiago said the move is already creating a buzz.

Detroit's East English Village will benefit from the plan. It's considered a stable community where only about two to three homes per block are empty.

Neighbours say a stronger police presence will not only boost security, it will also help property values that have tanked over the years.

Resident Eric Duncan said his home is only worth $30,000 these days, down from $170,000 15 years ago.

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"What we need is less vacant houses, more security, better schools," said Duncan.

Duncan says the renovation funds are a good idea.

"They can live plush, that's great," Duncan said. "Let's face it, everybody has to be here to make it work, you know. Once we become segregated ... we all need to be together, that's the way it works."

If all goes well, city officials said they'd like to offer the program to people in other departments with the final goal of adding some life to the area, and revving up the Motor City.

Bing plans to present a study on April 1, outlining more details on how he'll encourage former Detroiters to return to the city.

Personal Finance: Blacks and the federal budget

By Michelle Singletary
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Source: Washington Post
I often wonder what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would say about the economic state of black America. Would he see progress? Or would he be disappointed at how far African Americans still have to go?

The unemployment rate for blacks is 15.6 percent, compared with 9 percent for the country overall. Blacks earn only 57 cents for each dollar of white median family income. And more than 8 percent of blacks have lost homes to foreclosure so far compared with 4.5 percent of whites.

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Post columnist Courtland Milloy has an answer to the economic challenges blacks face.

"Spread out, black people; scatter, if you can," Milloy wrote recently. "Maybe it's better to rent in an integrated neighborhood, with good schools and more job opportunities, than to own in a black one where property values aren't going to rise that much and may vanish altogether if your neighbor goes into foreclosure."

Some blacks have moved to better their situation.

"The 60-year escape from segregation and racism that brought American blacks to the North, has reversed course. Better jobs and quality of life in the South are beckoning," the Associated Press reported recently.

The nation's black population has grown by roughly 1.7 million over the last decade. About 75 percent of that growth occurred in the South -- primarily metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami and Charlotte, N.C.

As Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington bureau, told the AP: "It's no coincidence that the shift is happening as we encounter economic turmoil that is being felt disproportionately among blacks, such as mortgage foreclosures, loss of jobs and economic devastation in major Northern hubs."

But whether they stay or go, there are tough times ahead for many blacks if the budget cuts President Obama recently proposed are passed, according to several black leaders.

Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III, host of the radio program "Inside the Issues with Wilmer Leon" and a teaching associate at Howard University, wrote on The Grio: "Understanding that the president's submission is the first salvo in a long budget battle many are asking why start with such steep cuts to much needed social programs. Why start the negotiation process with programs that represent such a small fraction of the federal budget and will disproportionately impact African-Americans?"

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, also criticized the proposed budget cuts.

"Rebuilding our economy on the backs of the most vulnerable Americans is something that I simply can not accept," Cleaver said in a statement. "For example, the President's recommendations to slash Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding that ensures economic growth in our communities is troubling. Moreover, the recommendations to consolidate programs in the Department of Education that overwhelmingly support the educational development of our children, and to freeze salaries of federal workers who in many instances--in communities of color--are disproportionately the primary bread winners in their homes is equally problematic."

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As reported in the Chicago Sun Times, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. also attacked Obama's budget.

"How can we stop the Republican cuts when the president has one-upped them?" Jackson said in a statement. "As the president, he should be the last line of defense for the most vulnerable Americans, instead of the first one to cut."

So what do you think of the President's proposed budget? Send your comments to colorofmoney@washpost.com. Put "Budget Blues" in the subject line.

Race and the Recession

Join me for "Behind the Headlines: A Discussion on Race and the Recession in Metro Washington." The free forum will be on Wed. Feb. 23 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The Rennie Forum, Prince George's Community College, 301 Largo Rd., Upper Marlboro, Md.

The panel will, among other things, look at how economic policies in Washington have affected African Americans. The forum will also examine the first of three public opinion polls on issues facing the black community, conducted by The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University.

I'll be moderating the discussion panel, which includes Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus; Michael A. Fletcher, a Washington Post national economics reporter; Jeff Johnson, a Black Entertainment Television journalist and motivational speaker; Dr. Julianne Malveaux, a noted economist and educator; Sophia A. Nelson, a contributor to The Root.com who also covers the White House for JET Magazine; and the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network.

To RSVP or to submit a question for the panel, please e-mail behindtheheadlines@washpost.com. For more details about the events, visit the Behind the Headlines Web site.


Money In the Bank

Debts are down. Savings are up. As the Post's Neil Irwin reports, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that compared with the summer of 2008, when consumer debt peaked, Americans now have 7 percent less mortgage debt, 12 percent less in auto loans and 15 percent less credit card debt. Plus, Americans are now saving at nearly triple the rate they were between 2007 and 2009, setting aside 5.3 percent of their disposable income in December, according to the Commerce Department.

Of course there are many cheering on consumers' newfound frugality. The hope is that it will benefit the economy because these debt-free consumers will have more money to spend. I just hope if people need to spend (notice I used the word "need," not "want"), they won't go back to their old ways and pile on the debt.

Responses to 'Consorting With A Co-Worker'

Office relationships can be risky business, but it seems few people care. The Vault 2011 Office Romance Survey found that 65 percent of respondents said the recession has had no effect on their willingness to take romantic risks at work.

For last week Color of Money question, I wanted to know: "Have you ever had a workplace romance go bad?"

"Years ago, I worked for a large company where I met most of the folks I ended up dating," said K. Lubinsky of Galloway, Ohio. "When these relationships went south, it was beyond awkward and very difficult to maintain a professional relationship. One day I got into an elevator and there were three of my ex's. Nobody knew about the other one. I was shaking in my shoes, as I really didn't know what any of them would say. This was the longest elevator ride of my life. I decided right then and there that I would never put myself in this situation again."

Sometimes the office romance is more than a fling.

"My husband and I have been married 36 years after meeting and dating at work," wrote Susan Spengler of Bethany Beach, Del.

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Sara M. of Sykesville, Md. also met her husband at work.

"We met at work at a government agency," she wrote. "My office had a function that supported his office, though I did not support him. We married six months after our first date, less than a year from when I started there. Twenty-one years later we are divorced."

Hey, at least her marriage lasted longer than some jobs.

Tax Tips for the 2011 Filing Season

Looking for help with your tax return? Well, the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program offers free tax help to people who earn less than $49,000 a year. Most locations offer free electronic filing. The Tax Counseling for the Elderly Program offers free tax help to taxpayers who are 60 and older.

Visit the IRS's Web site for more information.

Tia Lewis contributed to this e-letter.

Bagdad asked The United States for $1 billion for war damage to the city

Baghdad wants U.S. to pay $1 billion for damage to city
Thursday Feb. 17, 2011
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq's capital wants the United States to apologize and pay $1 billion for the damage done to the city not by bombs but by blast walls and Humvees since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

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The city's government issued its demands in a statement on Wednesday that said Baghdad's infrastructure and aesthetics have been seriously damaged by the American military.

"The U.S. forces changed this beautiful city to a camp in an ugly and destructive way, which reflected deliberate ignorance and carelessness about the simplest forms of public taste," the statement said.

"Due to the huge damage, leading to a loss the Baghdad municipality cannot afford...we demand the American side apologize to Baghdad's people and pay back these expenses."

The statement made no mention of damage caused by bombing.

Baghdad's neighborhoods have been sealed off by miles of concrete blast walls, transforming the city into a tangled maze that contributes to massive traffic jams. Despite a sharp reduction in overall violence in recent years only 5 percent of the walls have been removed, officials said.

The heavy blast walls have damaged sewer and water systems, pavement and parks, said Hakeem Abdul Zahra, the city spokesman.

U.S. military Humvees, driven on street medians and through gardens, have also caused major damage, he said.

"The city of Baghdad feels these violations, which have taken place for years, have caused economic and moral damage," he said.

U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq's cities in June 2009 before formally ending combat operations last August. Around 50,000 remain in Iraq but they are scheduled to withdraw by year end.

Baghdad is badly in need of a facelift. Electricity and trash collection are sporadic, streets are potholed and sewage treatment plants and pipes have not been renovated for years.

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Iraq has seen growing protests in recent weeks over poor government services.

Zahra said the city's statement issued on Wednesday would be the start of its measures to get the United States to pay for damages but he did not say what other steps might be taken.

(Reporting and writing by Aseel Kami; Editing by Jim Loney)

IBM's super computer Watson wins Jeopardy

Spoiler Alert: 'Jeopardy!' Man vs. Machine Tourney Concludes
By Frazier Moore, Associated Press | Wednesday, February 16, 2011
NEW YORK — Note to self: Never play "Jeopardy!" with a supercomputer.
That's a useful lesson for me or any mortal who has followed the Man vs. Machine faceoff this week on the popular trivia game show, where on Wednesday the second of two exhibition matches sealed the deal: Watson, the IBM-created megabrain, officially buried his flesh-and-blood opponents, veteran "Jeopardy!" champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.

Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter vs. "Watson"

CBS

Watson's winning score was $41,413 for the day ($77,147 for both games), while Jennings notched $19,200 ($24,000 overall) and Rutter reached $11,200 ($21,600 overall).

For crushing his rivals, Watson gets a total prize of $1 million, which IBM has said will go to the charities World Vision and World Community Grid.

The vanquished Jennings and Rutter get $300,000 and $200,000, respectively, half of which each said they would be donating to charities.

"I for one welcome our new computer overlords," Jennings wrote alongside his correct Final Jeopardy response ("Dracula" author Bram Stoker), apparently trading on a line from "The Simpsons." Clearly Jennings is a good sport with a sense of humor.

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But where does this leave viewers? Me, I'll take Mixed Emotions for a thousand, Alex.

Watching this week's clash, I was reminded of the legend of John Henry, the folk hero from a bygone century who was born with a hammer in his hand and raced against a mechanized, steam-powered drill. He won that race. Then, having made his point, he died of exhaustion.

Fortunately, neither Jennings nor Rutter expired from mental exertion. Nor did they beat the machine.

But these humans put up a fight. Unlike Tuesday, when Watson breezed through most of the half-hour, on Wednesday he seemed distracted, not quite on his game, while his opponents jumped in with correct responses such as Ikea, Robert De Niro, and F1 (the computer that is also the abbreviation for Grand Prix auto racing).

Watson also seemed ill-equipped for the "One Buck or Less" category (maybe he should shop more).

But nothing could stop him.

Watching these "Jeopardy!" episodes, I thought of one of cinema's most devilish control freaks, HAL the computer from the sci-fi masterpiece, "2001: A Space Odyssey." I wondered what Watson, seemingly so genial as he played the game, would have said had someone ordered him to "open the pod bay doors."

"I'm sorry, Alex. I'm afraid I can't do that," Watson might have replied as he went psycho.

Meanwhile, this contest fed my suspicion that longtime "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek might actually be a kindred spirit of Watson. Isn't there something pleasantly robotic about Trebek's on-air style? Was he, too, born at IBM?

Granted, watching Watson's instant, often flawless command of information was inspiring, especially for someone like me, who often can't even remember where I set my reading glasses.

The occasions when he stumbled only made him more endearing — almost human.

On Tuesday's show, Watson blew Final Jeopardy, whose clue was: "Its largest airport is named for a World War II hero; its second largest, for a World War II battle."

Both Rutter and Jennings knew the right response was Chicago. Watson somehow came up with Toronto.

And, although usually a literary whiz, he was flummoxed by a Double Jeopardy question on Wednesday. His response: Dorothy Parker. Correct response: "The Elements of Style."

It was fun to see Watson jump the tracks. And it was fun to see him recover the next moment, as if nothing had happened. Right or wrong, Watson (named for IBM founder Thomas J. Watson) never lost his composure.

And mostly he ruled, proving himself conversant in subjects as far-flung as leprosy and Franz Liszt, the Olympics and hedgehogs.

But as thrilling as it's been to watch Watson work, it's also been unnerving.

Who wanted to see champs such as Rutter (the show's all-time money-winner with $3.25 million) sweat, or Jennings (who has the longest winning streak at 74 games) sidelined, radiating frustration!

I had to wonder if the deck was stacked against them. The tournament, which was taped last month at the IBM research center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., obviously gave Watson the home field advantage. Watson doesn't travel, but still ... a bit unfair?
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Now that the challenge is decided, I find consolation in remembering that Watson, the computer that trounced a pair of very smart humans, is himself the product of humans.

But still, I can't get past a chilling thought that this digital know-it-all might have lots of other tricks up his sleeve. For example, after winning at "Jeopardy!" could Watson have sat down and wrote this story, instead of a human?

Arcade Fire must sing in French to play for Quebec's Fête Nationale

By Jonathan Montpetit and Alexander Panetta, The Canadian Press
Metro RSS – Wed, 16 Feb, 2011

MONTREAL - They may be the toast of the music world but, if they ever want to play the Fête Nationale celebration in their own hometown, Arcade Fire won't be allowed to do it in English.

Organizers of Montreal's Fête Nationale celebration say the band would have to sing their songs in French, like any other act playing at the festival for Quebec's annual holiday.

The chief organizer said Wednesday that the Grammy-winning band would be welcome to play the June 24 event if it wanted to.

"As long as they conform to certain guidelines," Luc Savard, director general of the event, told The Canadian Press.

When asked whether those guidelines included not singing in English, and performing in French instead, Savard replied: "Voila."

The question of whether Arcade Fire will attend is actually moot for this year: the group will be touring Europe this summer, and Savard says this year's acts are already booked anyway.

Arcade Fire does include the occasional French line in its songs but the band, and its U.S.-born frontman, sing almost exclusively in English.

When they took to the stage at the Grammys they expressed thanks, in English and French, to the city of Montreal and later gushed to reporters backstage about their love for the place.

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Lead singer Win Butler, who grew up in Texas, has lived for almost a decade in the city where he met his wife and fellow band member, Regine Chassagne.

After winning the best-album Grammy this week, the group went on to England where they were named the top international band at the BRIT awards.

The group's success has touched off political reaction back home.

There was a congratulatory motion this week in Quebec's national assembly, applauding the band's accomplishments.

But some published opinion pieces mused that the bilingual hipster band reflected qualities of Montreal — a bilingual, hipster city — that are rarely recognized, let alone celebrated, by a political elite more focused on linguistic differences.

A popular French-language radio host also grumbled his frustration that the band had managed to win international awards before it had ever taken home a major Quebec musical prize.

The always-sensitive issue of language has proven especially thorny on Quebec's official holiday, which sprang from the traditional June 24 St-Jean-Baptiste holiday celebrated across French Canada.

The presence of Anglo acts two years ago at a large concert, unaffiliated with the official event, prompted protests and even some threats from nationalists. There were ultimately far more cheers, however, than jeers at the event.

And at least year's official Fête Nationale party, emcee and popular television host Guy A. Lepage explained to the crowd that the event must be celebrated exclusively in French as a demonstration of love for a fragile language.

Savard, the festival organizer, says there's certainly pride here in Arcade Fire's accomplishments.

"We're altogether happy that Montrealers won such a prestigious prize," Savard said. "We can't be against that."

The group also has a dedicated fan base in Quebec.

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About 45,000 people attended an outdoor show in Quebec City last year, just before the band went on to a two-night gig at New York's Madison Square Garden.

The group's Grammy win Sunday night prompted some jubilant Twitter messages from Lepage, the Fête Nationale emcee.

"I really love this band that works on its music instead of being 'posers,' " Lepage wrote.

"Bravo Arcade Fire !!!!"

Foreign hackers attack Canadian government

CBC – 16 feb. 2011
An unprecedented cyberattack on the Canadian government from China has given foreign hackers access to highly classified federal information, and forced at least two key departments off the internet, CBC News has learned.

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The attack, first detected in early January, left Canadian counter-espionage agents scrambling to determine how much sensitive government information may have been stolen and by whom.

Highly placed sources tell CBC News the cyberattacks were traced back to computer servers in China.

But they caution there is no way of knowing whether the hackers are Chinese, or some other nationality routing their cybercrimes through China to cover their tracks.

So far, officials in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government have been all but mum on the breach of security.

The government initially issued a terse statement, passing it off as merely an “attempt to access” federal networks, and has refused to release any further information.

But sources have confirmed the attackers successfully penetrated the computer systems at the federal government’s two main economic nerve centres, the Finance Department and Treasury Board.

The hackers apparently managed to take control of computers in the offices of senior government executives as part of a scheme to steal the key passwords that unlock entire government data systems.

It is unclear whether the attackers managed to compromise other departmental computer networks, including those that contain Canadians’ sensitive personal information such as tax and health records.

Once the attack was detected, government cybersecurity officials immediately shut down all internet access in both departments in an attempt to stop stolen information from being sent back to the hackers over the net.

The move left thousands of public servants without internet access, although officials in both affected departments report service has slowly been returning to normal since the attack.

For years, experts including the federal auditor general have been warning that security on the government’s networks is woefully inadequate and open to cyberattack.