The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation's computer network was reportedly breached by Russian hackers, Bloomberg is reporting.
Government investigators confirmed the breach as recently as last week, shortly after it was discovered that Russian hackers also penetrated the Democratic National Committee's computer network.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton. (Image source: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Clinton Foundation spokesman Brian Cookstra told Bloomberg he was not aware of any breach, but Clinton spokesman Glen Caplin acknowledged that hackers attempted to breach the computer networks of Clinton, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Clinton's Democratic primary rival Bernie Sanders.
“We routinely communicate and cooperate with government agencies on security-related matters,” he said. “What appears evident is that the Russian groups responsible for the DNC hack are intent on attempting to influence the outcome of this election.”
Just last month, director of national intelligence James Clapper said there were "indications" that foreign hackers were trying to infiltrate the networks of U.S. presidential candidates. He did not name Russia, specifically.
Not only were the DNC and Clinton Foundation potentially breached, but a report published Friday revealed that law firms, lobbyists, consultants, foundations and policy groups were also among the users targeted by hackers from October 2015-May 2016.
“Why would Russia go to this trouble? Simple answer — because it met their foreign policy objectives, to weaken the U.S. in the eyes of our allies and adversaries,” Brendan Conlon, CEO of Vahna Inc., a cyber security firm in Washington, D.C., told Bloomberg.
Condon added that the breach “weakens both candidates," and "lists out all the weaknesses of Trump specifically while highlighting weaknesses of Clinton’s security issues. The end result is a weaker president once elected.”
Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Dmitry Peskov denies any involvement by the Kremlin.
“I completely rule out a possibility that the [Russian] government or the government bodies have been involved in this,” Peskov said, the Washington Post reported.
(H/T: Bloomberg)
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