However, the internal computers used by the campaign were not breached.
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In a major shock for Democrat Hillary Clinton, a fresh incident of hacking has come to light, highlighting that the computer systems used by Clinton’s presidential campaign were hacked.
The latest attack, which was disclosed to Reuters on Friday, follows two other hacks on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the party’s fundraising committee for candidates for the US House of Representatives.
But, said her press secretary Nick Merrill, there was “no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised”. The analytics data program is one of many systems the campaign accesses to conduct voter analysis, and does not include social security numbers or credit card numbers, the official said.
Law enforcement officials told USA media outlets that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice were involved in the investigation. The FBI said it was working to determine the “accuracy, nature and scope” of the cyberattacks. Her lawyers said the deleted emails were not work-related, but FBI investigators recovered some and determined they were not personal and should not have been deleted. The hacker groups, identified by CrowdStrike as Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear, used different but sophisticated techniques to break into the DNC and try to avoid detection. A source familiar with the matter confirmed this account to Reuters.
The intrusions have added another layer of mystery to the hacking of Democratic Party information that has been revealed in the heat of this year’s presidential and congressional elections.
It’s been a little over a week since hackers gained access to pretty much every dirty secret of the Democratic Party.
Clinton campaign officials have suggested that President Vladimir Putin could be trying to tilt the election in favour of Mr Trump, who has expressed admiration for the Russian leader. Russia’s intelligence service, the FSB, said on Saturday that computer networks serving 20 government, military, state and scientific agencies were infected with cyber-espionage malware as part of a “targeted, coordinated attack”.
The Democrats have accused the Kremlin of trying to influence the United States election with the goal of elevating Donald Trump – who enjoys a friendly relationship with Vladimir Putin – to the presidency.
Some officials question the approach, arguing that responding more forcefully to Russian Federation would be more effective than remaining silent.
Emails among DNC employees were released by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks over the weekend appearing to expose favoritism for presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over her chief rival in the primary contest, Senator Bernie Sanders. “Hopefully this time there wasn’t classified or top secret information that puts American lives at risk”.
Meredith Kelly, a spokeswoman for the congressional committee, said that the DCC “immediately took action” after the hack was discovered and brought in a forensic investigator to address the incident, The New York Times reported.
The agency said it “takes seriously any allegations of intrusions” and will continue to “hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace”. Officials at the DNC did not respond to requests for comment.
In response to this morning’s confirmation that the Clinton campaign was not only hacked but exposed for five days, the DOJ’s national security division has joined the investigation.
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But she said: “It wouldn’t surprise me”.
