The White House confirmed that it has been the victim of a cybersecurity attack, and the perpetrators are thought to be working for the Russian government.
White House officials speaking anonymously to the Washington Post said that so far in the ongoing investigation, there is no evidence that bad actors breached any classified files. The NSA, FBI, and Secret Service are all involved in the investigation. However, officials are not commenting on whether other data was taken, or who is behind the attack.
“Certainly a variety of actors find our networks to be attractive targets and seek access to sensitive information,” a White House official told the Post. “We are still assessing the activity of concern.”
See also: From Russia With Bots: Finding The Source Of Cyber Attacks
The reason officials are suspicious that Russia is behind the attack is primarily because it is the country most capable of implementing it. U.S. officials regard Russia as among the most computer-savvy states. The Post has recently reported on a number of similar campaigns thought to be implemented by hackers working for the Russian government, targeting NATO, the Ukrainian government, and an American researcher, among others.
However, aside from these suspicions and the fact that the White House attack looks similar to previous attacks of potentially Russian origin, there is no public evidence about who or what is behind it.
Photo by Shubert Ciencia
