Russian hackers were able to snatch all of the Democratic National Committee’s opposition research on Donald Trump, according to US officials who spoke to the Washington Post. The hackers were able to read emails and instant messages as a result of the breach.
Donald Trump
Hackers apparently had access to the DNC’s network for over a year, but were kicked out this past weekend.
From the Post:
The intrusion into the DNC was one of several targeting American political organisations. The networks of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were also targeted by Russian spies, as were the computers of some GOP political action committees, U.S. officials said. But details on those cases were not available.
The DNC said that no financial, donor or personal information appears to have been accessed or taken, suggesting that the breach was traditional espionage, not the work of criminal hackers.
This isn’t the first time Russian hackers have compromised sensitive political information. In 2014, Russian hackers were able to read President Obama’s email when they breached unclassified systems on the White House network.
And Obama is no stranger to having his campaign hacked. In 2008, US officials reported that Chinese hackers had compromised the campaigns of both Obama and John McCain, stealing internal documents.