Tech & Biz

Obama, McCain Campaigns Hit by Hackers

by Jordan Yerman | November 6, 2008 at 11:48 am

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Both the Obama and McCain campaigns were hit by cyberattacks which compromised their computer systems in the runup to the election.

What seemed like phishing at first turned out to be a bit more nefarious: th FBI thought that "foreign entities" had delved into the opponents' systems to dredge up info to use in case one or the other ended up in the Oval Office.

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 Obama's team.

The plot thickens.... McCain's camp was also hit.

The Feds told Obama's aides 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 that the FBI had become involved.

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apple_jamz

at 12:27 on November 6th, 2008

I wonder how smart you have to be to hack into a system like this one? Smarter than me I guess

saphir (not verified)

at 19:07 on November 6th, 2008

I bet these attacks came from Russia or China...And with further investigation maybe they can came up with some surprises..I believe the 21st Century will be full of cyberthreats we never had before and they are dangerous as bombs can be ..The security not only will be about traditional means but also new emerging threats and at some point,asymetric ones..