[Infowarrior] - Report: Obama, McCain campaigns hit with 'sophisticated' cyberattack

[Richard Forno]

Report: Obama, McCain campaigns hit with 'sophisticated' cyberattack

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/05/obama_mccain_cyberattack/


By Dan Goodin in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Security, 5th November 2008 19:30 GMT

Sophisticated overseas hackers broke in to the computer systems of  
both the Barack Obama and John McCain campaigns and stole a large  
amount of data, according to an article published Wednesday by Newsweek.

Officials with the FBI and the Secret Service notified Obama staffers  
in August of the breach after tech consultants for the campaign  
detected what they thought at the time was a computer virus.

"You have a problem way bigger than what you understand," an FBI agent  
told Obama staff members. "You have been compromised, and a serious  
amount of files have been loaded off your system."

White House chief of staff Josh Bolten also weighed in, telling an  
Obama campaign chief: "You have a real problem...and you have to deal  
with it."

Investigators told Obama aides that the McCain computer systems had  
been similarly compromised. A senior McCain official confirmed to  
Newsweek that the campaign's network had been hacked and the FBI was  
investigating.

Representatives of both campaigns weren't available to comment on the  
Newsweek report.

According to investigators at the FBI and the White House, a "foreign  
entity or organization" is believed to be behind the attacks in an  
attempt to "gather information on the evolution of both camps' policy  
positions." The information could prove useful in negotiations with a  
future administration. The investigators told the Obama team the hack  
wasn't carried out by political opponents.