Bloomberg: Russian hackers attack affected 39 States
The scale of intervention has forced the Obama administration to use extra channel of communication with Moscow.
The scope of the “Russian cyber attacks” on the electoral system of the United States during the presidential election campaign of 2016 was far greater than revealed earlier: in varying degrees, she has undergone 39 of the 50 States of the country, writes Bloomberg. In some cases the hackers managed to steal personal data of voters and to access software for a vote, reported the Agency, citing three people familiar with the investigation “Russian trace”.
Investigators, the FBI and the NSA used the Illinois (there at the beginning of 2016 had personal information stolen 90 000 voters after hackers gained access to a database of 15 million people) as a “litmus test” to identify typical patterns of behavior of the hackers type the IP address. It turned out that traces of penetration is gossistem vote of 37 States, and in key Florida and California — and third-party contractors. In Illinois, says Bloomberg, the hackers tried to delete part of a database of voters, which could be a rehearsal for future destructive attacks.
Worked the “red phone”?
According to Agency sources, the scale of the attack so worried the administration of President Barack Obama in October 2016, she used the “red phone” — a special secure communication channel between Washington and Moscow to warn Russia against escalating intervention. Moscow responded requested additional data, but the attack did not end, writes Bloomberg.
The mystery remains, why is “Russian hackers” have not benefited from the fruits of their efforts. Two options, says Bloomberg:
or the warning of Washington, worked, or for a few months failed to obtain sufficient to influence the election set accesses.
The latter is much more likely, according to a former senior US official, who asked about anonymity.
The Agency believes that the vulnerability revealed in a highly decentralized system of voter registration and voting in the country, threaten the upcoming presidential campaign. “Their goal is America. They can return,” Bloomberg recalls the words of ex-FBI Director James Comey said during hearings in the intelligence Committee of the Senate last week.
The FBI declined to comment. The Russian authorities at the highest level has repeatedly denied any interference in U.S. elections. So, in a recent NBC interview, the President of Russia Vladimir Putin said that the attempts to interfere in the U.S. presidential election can stand and American hackers. “Hackers can be anywhere. They can be in Russia, in Asia, in America, in Latin America. It could be hackers, by the way, from the United States, which are very skillfully and professionally moved, as we say, the arrow on Russia. Can you imagine that? During the acute political struggle? I can,” Putin said.