CNN is reporting Russian hackers accessed the White House computer system in a hack that exposed sensitive, though not classified, documents, according to officials. The hack appeared to build on an intrusion in the State Department’s computer system last year; the White House detected suspicious activity in October on the unclassified network of the president’s office, giving the perpetrators access to sensitive information like the president’s private schedule.
Here’s more from CNN:
The FBI, Secret Service and U.S. intelligence agencies are all involved in investigating the breach, which they consider among the most sophisticated attacks ever launched against U.S. government systems. The intrusion was routed through computers around the world, as hackers often do to hide their tracks, but investigators found tell-tale codes and other markers that they believe point to hackers working for the Russian government. A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to comment. Neither the U.S. State Department or the Russian immediately embassy responded to a request for comment. Ben Rhodes, President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said the White House’s use of a separate system for classified information protected sensitive national security-related items from being obtained by hackers.
The attack comes as the U.S. government attempts to combat cyberattacks in their different forms, and follows a surge in Russian hacking attempts accompanying the recent spiraling of U.S.–Russian relations.
