"Novel techniques" used by the attackers cheated security tools and forensics, according to FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia. The cybersecurity firm best known for its incident response (IR) chops today said it had been breached by nation-state attackers who hacked into its systems and stole its red team tools. FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia revealed the hack in a blog post this afternoon, noting the company had contacted the FBI and is working with both the bureau and Microsoft in an investigation of the attack. "This attack is different from the tens of thousands of incidents we have responded to throughout the years. The attackers tailored their world-class capabilities specifically to target and attack FireEye," Mandia said in the post. "They are highly trained in operational security and executed with discipline and focus. They operated clandestinely, using methods that counter security tools and forensic examination. They used a novel combination of techniques not witnessed by us or our partners in the past."