[LINK] Obama/McCain computers compromised in northern hemi summer

[Jan Whitaker]

In:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/obama-we-cant-solve-globa_n_141358.html

 From Newsweek's press release:

New York--The computer systems of both the Obama and McCain campaigns 
were victims of a sophisticated cyber attack by an unknown "foreign 
entity," prompting a federal investigation, Newsweek reports in its 
exclusive special election issue, "President Obama" on newsstands 
Thursday, Nov. 6.

At the Obama headquarters in midsummer, technology experts detected 
what they initially thought was a computer virus, a case of 
"phishing"--a form of hacking often employed to steal passwords or 
credit card numbers. But by the next day, both the FBI and the Secret 
Service came to the campaign with an ominous warning: "You have a 
problem way bigger than what you understand," an agent told them. 
"You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been 
loaded off your system." The following day, Obama campaign chief 
David Plouffe heard from White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, to 
the same effect: "You have a real problem... and you have to deal 
with it." The Feds told the Obama campaign in late August that the 
McCain campaign's computer system had been similarly compromised (a 
top McCain official confirmed to Newsweek that the campaign's 
computer system had been hacked and the FBI was had become involved).

As Editor-at-Large Evan Thomas writes, FBI and White House officials 
told the Obama campaign that they believed that a foreign entity or 
organization sought to gather information on the evolution of both 
camps' policy issues--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 (Obama 
technical experts later speculated that the hackers were Russian or 
Chinese). A security firm retained by the Obama campaign took steps 
to secure its computer system and end the intrusion. White House and 
FBI officials had no comment earlier this week.



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
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