Russia plays the cybervictim card while authorities say that Russian hack of Democrats' accounts was more serious than first estimated.
According to The New York Times, officials with knowledge of the case declared on Wednesday, August 10, that the Russian cyberattack that targeted Democratic politicians has breached the private email accounts of more than 100 groups and party officials and it was much bigger than it first appeared. The FBI had to broaden its investigation, prompted by the widening scope of the attack.
FBI agents have begun informing many Democratic officials that the Russian hackers may have compromised the security of their personal accounts. The main targets of the Russian hackers attack appear to have been the personal email accounts of a number of party organizations as well as Hillary Clinton's party operatives and campaign officials.
Officials have been informed of the security break that made the Russian hackers to gain access to the fund-raising arm for House Democrats, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, as well as to the Democratic National Committee. Hackers also gained access to a D.N.C. voter analytics program that is used by the presidential campaign of Mrs. Clinton.
Now it seems that the hack have extended well beyond those groups. The Democratic Governors' Association and other organizations appear to have been also affected, according to Democrat officials who are involved in the investigation. However, in a statement made on Thursday, August 11, the governors association denied that their analytics data has been compromised as part of the D.N.C. breach affecting the Clinton campaign.
According to Tech News World, faced with the hack attack scandal, Russia is trying to play the cybervictim card. On its official website, the Federal Security Service (FSB) recently reported that a cyberspying virus has been found in the computer networks of more than 20 defense contractors and state authorities.
The claim came in the midst of accusations that Russia is trying to impact the U.S. presidential election and it has engaged in cyberattacks against U.S. targets. According to FBS, the attack was aimed at Russian state authorities' information resources, the defense industry, scientific and defense companies and other infrastructure operations.
