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FBI, DOJ eyeing Russian operatives in Clinton campaign cyberattack

A hand on a laptop in a dark surrounding.
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There’s more bad news for the Democrats’ tech team as yet another cyberattack was discovered, this time involving the computer network used by Hillary Clinton. It’s the third such political hack disclosed in recent months, with the previous two targeting the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Operatives associated with Russia appear to be behind the attack, in a revelation that comes just days after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for the Kremlin to look into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

On late Friday, a Clinton campaign spokesperson Nick Merrill confirmed that a DNC data analytics program used by the Clinton team was accessed as part of the DNC hack.

“Our campaign computer system has been under review by outside cyber security experts,” Merrill said. “To date, they have found no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised.”

The FBI said Friday that it was investigating reports of “cyberintrusions involving multiple political entities,” though the agency did not specify the intrusions’ targets.

Also on Friday, the DCCC revealed that its own security breach closely resembled that of the DNC. “The DCCC can confirm that we have been the target of a cybersecurity incident,” said DCCC spokesperson Meredith Kelly. “Upon discovering the issue, we immediately took action and engaged with CrowdStrike, a leading forensic investigator, to assist us in addressing this incident. … The investigation is ongoing.”

It is still unknown as to what information may have been compromised by attack on the Clinton campaign, but needless to say, the frequency of these hacks has caused significant alarm across the country, especially with the presidential election just around the corner. And with the likely culprits associated with a foreign government, international tensions appear higher than ever.

“The FBI takes seriously any allegations of intrusions, and we will continue to hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace,” the agency said. The Department of Justice is also investigating.

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