Report: Russian govt hackers steal research on Trump from Democrats

MOSCOW, Jun 15 (PRIME) -- Russian government hackers penetrated a computer network of the U.S.’ Democratic National Committee (DNC) and gained access to the entire database of opposition research on GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported late Tuesday, quoting committee officials and security experts as saying.

The intruders so thoroughly compromised the DNC’s system that they also were able to read all e-mail and chat traffic, said DNC officials and the security experts.

The intrusion into the DNC was one of several targeting American political organizations. The networks of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were also targeted by Russian spies, as were the computers of some Republican political action committees, U.S. officials said. But details on those cases were not available.

A Russian Embassy spokesman said he had no knowledge of such intrusions.

Some of the hackers had access to the DNC network for about a year, but all were expelled over the past weekend in a major computer cleanup campaign, the committee officials and experts said.

The DNC said that no financial, donor or personal information appears to have been accessed or taken, suggesting that the breach was traditional espionage, not the work of criminal hackers.

The intrusions are an example of Russia’s interest in the U.S. political system and its desire to understand the policies, strengths and weaknesses of a potential future president – much as American spies gather similar information on foreign candidates and leaders.

The depth of the penetration reflects the skill and determination of the U.S.’ top cyber adversary as Russia goes after strategic targets, from the White House and State Department to political campaign organizations.

“It’s the job of every foreign intelligence service to collect intelligence against their adversaries,” Shawn Henry, president of CrowdStrike, the cyber firm called in to handle the DNC breach and a former head of the FBI’s cyber division, said. He noted that it is extremely difficult for a civilian organization to protect itself from a skilled and determined state such as Russia.

“We’re perceived as an adversary of Russia,” he said. “Their job when they wake up every day is to gather intelligence against the policies, practices and strategies of the U.S. government. There are a variety of ways. (Hacking) is one of the more valuable because it gives you a treasure trove of information.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken favorably about Trump, who has called for better relations with Russia and expressed skepticism about NATO. But unlike Clinton, whom the Russians probably have long had in their spy sights, Trump has not been a politician for very long, so foreign agencies are playing catch-up, analysts say.

“The purpose of such intelligence gathering is to understand the target’s proclivities,” Robert Deitz, former senior counsellor to the CIA director and a former general counsel at the National Security Agency, said. “Trump’s foreign investments, for example, would be relevant to understanding how he would deal with countries where he has those investments” should he be elected, Deitz said. “They may provide tips for understanding his style of negotiating. In short, this sort of intelligence could be used by Russia, for example, to indicate where it can get away with foreign adventurism.”

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