WASHINGTON (AFP) - US spy chief James Clapper's personal online accounts have been hacked, his office confirmed on Tuesday (Jan 12), a few months after CIA director John Brennan suffered a similar attack.

Mr Clapper's Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed the hack but refused to provide details.

"We are aware of the matter and we reported it to the appropriate authorities," spokesman Brian Hale told AFP.

A teen hacker who goes by "Cracka" claimed to have hacked Mr Clapper's home telephone and Internet accounts, his personal e-mail, and his wife's Yahoo e-mail, online magazine Motherboard reported.

Cracka told Motherboard that he had changed the settings on Mr Clapper's Verizon account so that calls to his home were rerouted to the California-based Free Palestine Movement.

Cracka is part of the "Crackas with Attitude" group, which broke into Mr Brennan's personal e-mail account last year.

Hackers from the group have said they are teenage high school students.