A 23-year-old man is in custody after climbing over the White House fence and attacking Secret Service guard dogs unleashed by agents.

WHEN an armed intruder jumped the fence and penetrated deep into the White House, it provided a field day for cartoonists and some members of the House of Representatives - who turned Julia Pierson, the hapless Secret Service director, into a figure of ridicule.

The director of the US Secret Service has resigned in the face of revelations of security breaches and an erosion of confidence over the safety of president Barack Obama and his family.

Secret Service director Julia Pierson resigned yesterday in the face of multiple revelations about bumbling in her agency and rapidly eroding confidence that the president and his family were being kept safe.

The director of the US Secret Service has quit following a number of security lapses at the White House.

The US Secret Service director has told lawmakers she takes full responsibility for the serious breach of White House security when an Army veteran with a knife climbed the fence and made his way into the executive mansion before he was tackled.

An intruder who jumped a fence at the White House made it further inside the building than the US Secret Service has publicly acknowledged, according to reports.

Security at the White House has been stepped up after a man with a knife jumped the fence and made it into the presidential residence before being tackled.