Presidential Campaigns Hit By Hackers, Says US Intelligence Chief

The current US presidential candidates and their campaign sites have become the target of hackers, US National Intelligence Director James Clapper said yesterday. He warned of the attacks increasing as the campaigns intensified, according to a Reuters report.

Officials said motivation for these attacks range “from philosophical differences to espionage,” with nation-state hackers going after candidates’ foreign policy details. They gave no details of specific attacks, but authorities have discussed the matter with congressional committees.

Clapper said that after official party nominations, the presidential candidates would be briefed about cyber threats. Authorities are working with campaigns to increase security of their networks, according to the report.

Attacks against presidential campaigns are nothing new: the 2008 and 2012 campaigns were hit hard by cyberattacks.

"Given the intense scrutiny paid to the 2016 campaign, and the broad implications for U.S. foreign policy, it’s no surprise that actors are launching cyber attacks against presidential campaigns," said Democrat Representative Adam Schiff.

See the full story at Reuters.