Clinton campaign says hackers accessed its data program
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign confirmed that one of its data programs was accessed by hackers, the latest development in what cybersecurity experts call a broad operation by Russian operatives to infiltrate US political organisations.
“An analytics data program maintained by the DNC, and used by our campaign and a number of other entities, was accessed as part of” a previously disclosed attack on the Democratic National Committee, campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said Friday in an emailed statement. “Our campaign computer system has been under review by outside cyber security experts. To date, they have found no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised.”
The FBI has begun a review of whether the Clinton campaign was hacked, according to a person familiar with the probe who asked not to be identified discussing an internal inquiry.
The campaign’s announcement came hours after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which raises funds to elect House Democrats, said that it, too, was “the target of a cybersecurity incident”. Meredith Kelly, press secretary for the organisation, said the DCCC was “cooperating with the federal law enforcement agencies with respect to their ongoing investigation”.
Attacks on Democratic organisations, including the DNC, have roiled the 2016 political campaigns. The disclosure by WikiLeaks of purloined party e-mails forced the head of the DNC to resign as Democrats gathered for their presidential convention. The breach has stirred allegations that Russia is seeking to meddle in the US election, an assertion Russian officials have repeatedly denied.
“Any of the allegations that circulate here in the US about Russia’s involvement are groundless,” Yury Melnik, a spokesman for Russia’s embassy in Washington, said Friday in a phone interview. “There’s no attempts whatsoever to meddle with the political process or the results of the election. The Russian government is ready and willing to work with the current administration and any future administration.”