DNC service used by Clinton team hacked
Campaign says it didn’t compromise internal systems
WASHINGTON — A computer service used by the campaign of Hillary Clinton was hacked as part of a broader breach of the Democratic National Committee, an intrusion for which the Russian government is the leading suspect, the campaign said Friday.
The breach affected a DNC data analytics program used by the campaign and a number of other organizations, according to the campaign. It said outside security experts reviewing the campaign’s computer system have found “no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised.”
The brief statement did not specify what types of data the service was analyzing, but partnerships with modern e-commerce companies can allow sophisticated tracking, categorization and identification of website visitors. This can help organizations tailor their online content, advertising and solicitations to be more effective.
The announcement comes as the FBI investigates a hack at the DNCthat resulted in the posting last week of embarrassing internal communications on WikiLeaks and a similar intrusion of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. President Barack Obama has said Russia was almost certainly responsible for the DNChack, an assertion with which cybersecurity experts have agreed.
The FBI said Friday it was aware of “media reporting on cyber intrusions involving multiple political entities, and is working to Delegates check an analytics screen during the Democratic convention this week. The party has been hacked. determine the accuracy, nature and scope of these matters.”
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.
The DNC breach led to the release by WikiLeaks on July 22, days before the Democratic National Convention began, of 19,000 emails showing that supposedly neutral party officials were favoring Hillary Clinton over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during their primary contest for the presidential nomination. As a result of that disclosure, party Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida announced her resignation this week.
On Friday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which raises money and provides other assistance for Democratic House candidates, acknowledged a digital breakin of its computers that it said resembled the DNC hack.
Spokeswoman Meredith Kelly said the committee was “the target of a cybersecurity incident” and was informed by investigators “that this is similar to other recent incidents, including the DNC breach.”
She said the committee is using CrowdStrike, a computer security firm, and is “cooperating with the federal law enforcement with respect to their ongoing investigation.”
Computer hacking, emails and indications of Russian involvement have evolved into a political issue in the presidential campaign between Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
This week, Trump encouraged Russia to seek and release over 30,000 emails deleted by Clinton, the former secretary of state. Democrats accused him of trying to get a foreign adversary to conduct espionage that could affect November’s elections, but Trump later said he was being sarcastic.
Clinton deleted the emails from her private server, saying they were personal, before handing other messages over to the State Department. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Clinton over her email practices and handling of classified information.
CrowdStrike and another security firm, ThreatConnect, said they found evidence pointing to Russian government involvement in the DNC hack when they analyzed the hackers’ methods.