November 5th, 2008
Newsweek: Obama, McCain campaigns hacked by 'foreign entity'
Newsweek is reporting that the computer systems of the campaigns of both Barack Obama and John McCain were compromised in a “sophisticated cyberattack” by an unknown “foreign entity.”
At Obama headquarters, what was originally believed to be a virus planted in a phishing attack turned out to something more ominous. After an investigation, the FBI and Secret Service issued a dire warning:
- You have a problem way bigger than what you understand,” an agent told Obama’s team. “You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system.”
[ SEE: Obama looking for help thwarting Web site hackers ]
Newsweek reported that the FBI said the McCain campaign’s computer system had been similarly compromised.
- Officials at the FBI and the White House told the Obama campaign that they believed a foreign entity or organization sought to gather information on the evolution of both camps’ policy positions—information that might be useful in negotiations with a future administration. The Feds assured the Obama team that it had not been hacked by its political opponents.
The FBI declined to comment for the Newsweek story.
Ryan Naraine is a journalist and security evangelist at Kaspersky Lab. He manages Threatpost.com, a security news portal. Here is Ryan's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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