According to CNN, the method used to access the White House systems was the same as that deployed by Russia in its intrusion into the State Department.
CNN claims that, contrary to a statement by the White House, the hackers accessed secure data stored on the system. Although none of the information was classified, some was highly sensitive and could be valuable to foreign intelligence agencies, according to US officials.
The data accessed included real-time details of the president’s non-public schedule. The White House said in October said that suspicious activity had been noticed on the unclassified network serving the president’s executive office.
The hackers covered their tracks by routing the requests through computers and servers around the world. The FBI, Secret Service and US intelligence agencies investigating the attack say that markers indicate the hackers were working for the Russian government though.
National Security Council spokesman Mark Stroh did not confirm the hack, instead telling CNN: “In this case, as we made clear at the time, we took immediate measures to evaluate and mitigate the activity. As has been our position, we are not going to comment on [this] article’s attribution to specific actors.”
President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes also told CNN: “We do not believe that our classified systems were compromised. We’re constantly updating our security measures on our unclassified system, but we’re frankly told to act as if we need not put information that’s sensitive on that system.”
The news comes amid the launch of a new cybersecurity agenda by the Obama administration that aims to prevent such hacks. It is believed by some that the Russians still have access to the State Department systems despite the best efforts to lock them out.
