A cyberattack against The Washington Post compromised the email accounts of several journalists, including those covering national security and economic policy, the paper’s top editor said in a memo to staff, according to a Sunday report.

The breach, which was discovered Thursday, potentially allowed the perpetrator to access reporters’ Microsoft email accounts, people familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal.

Per the report, the attack could have been carried out by a foreign government and specifically targeted reporters who cover China.

Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray informed staffers in an internal memo Sunday that there had been a “possible targeted unauthorized intrusion into our email system.”

The company has launched an internal investigation, Murray wrote.

Details of the breach were shared privately with some affected staffers in recent days, according to the Journal, which first reported the incident.

It is not yet clear how many accounts were accessed or how long the breach lasted.

A Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.

The Journal is among a number of major US news outlets targeted by foreign hackers in recent years.

Following a 2013 hacking, The paper reported, “Chinese hackers for years have targeted major U.S. media companies with hacking that has penetrated inside newsgathering systems, several people familiar with the response to the cyberattacks said. Tapping reporters’ computers could allow Beijing to identify sources on articles and information about pending stories. Chinese authorities in the past have penalized Chinese nationals who have passed information to foreign reporters.”

The New York Times and The Washington Post were also targeted by hackers from China in 2013.

A WIRED report from the time explained that “hackers from China had been routing through the paper’s network for at least four months, stealing the passwords of reporters in an apparent attempt to identify sources and gather other intelligence about stories related to the family of China’s prime minister.”

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