Democratic Party campaign service computers hacked
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 hackers had access to the program, which is used to conduct voter analysis, for about five days. It did not include Social Security numbers or credit card information, a campaign aide said.
The campaign 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 DNC that resulted in the posting last week of embarrassing internal communications on WikiLeaks, and a similar intrusion of the House Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
President Barack Obama has said Russia was almost certainly responsible for the DNC hack, 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 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 Sen. Bernie Sanders during their primary contest for the presidential nomination.